The Infamous Marauders
by Sariesavage
Summary: The Marauders are back at Hogwarts for their sixth year and mischief will most certainly be managed. Remus/Sirius! Wolfstar! Slight Jily!
1. Returning to Hogwarts

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter One**

 **Author's Note: I initially began this story as the Infamous Marauders Halloween however after completing five chapters I didn't have time to continue with the story, now that I have returned I have decided to make changes to the original story, therefore there has been a slight title change and some edits to the content so far, I will leave the original work up as is and begin the newly edited version of the story here. Thank you to everyone who had begun to read the original story and thank you to anyone reading this for the first time, I hope you enjoy.**

 **Edit A/N: (22/08/2017) I have now removed the original story 'The Infamous Marauders Halloween' from my profile.**

 **This is going to be mainly focusing on the eventual pairing of Remus and Sirius however we will also be keeping up with developments with James and Lily.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story, they are the amazing J.K Rowling's.**

 **1st September 1976**

Four very different boys sat in a compartment together all wearing very similar grins, they were on the Hogwarts Express on their way to start their sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts was a wondrous place, a place where a person could be made to sprout a pig tail, a place where a tree could attack you, it was even a place where you could pleasantly converse with a ghost at dinner.

"This year is going to be the year which will see our names written forever in History books" Sirius stated.

James nodded along eagerly, cockily adding "Don't forget this is also the year Evans will realise she actually is hopelessly in love with me and my charm"

Remus and Sirius shared an amused look at James' declaration, resulting in Sirius snorting loudly.

Composing himself Sirius cleared his throat then continued "Well yes if you say so, moving on, I propose we plan the prank of all pranks to start this year of with a bang"

"Or we could just enjoy our lessons and study for our NEWTs like everybody else" Sirius and James looked outraged at Remus' contribution.

"Well I never!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Have you lost your mind?" demanded James.

"But we need to do pranks!" Peter panicked.

"I am a prefect, I had to at least try discourage you"

"Remus don't try use that badge to pretend you don't enjoy it as much as us" James replied.

The rest of their journey to Hogwarts went by in typical fashion. James scoured the train in the hopes of finding Lily to in his words "woo her" and Sirius joined in the hopes of seeing James get hexed or to bump into Severus Snape, or as most of the Marauders called him Snivellus, much to Remus' disapproval. Peter would spend questionable amounts of money on sweets from the cart and stuff his face, whilst Remus attended the prefects meeting. James would eventually appear after most certainly being hexed with a mischievous looking Sirius, this is how their journeys went ever since they had returned to Hogwarts for their Second Year.

Darkness soon began to settle outside of the train window signalling they were close to Hogwarts, it was time to change in to their robes, Remus was of course already dressed as usual and continued to read his book as the rest of the boys got ready.

Once he was suitably dressed Sirius plonked heavily down next to him "What you are reading Moony?"

"Our new transfiguration textbook"

Sirius snorted "Well that's just idiotic"

Remus glared over the top of his book at Sirius "Oh please do enlighten me as to how being prepared is idiotic?"

"Being prepared isn't idiotic, however reading that textbook is, why read that when you have a transfiguration master right here" he responded with a wink.

Remus rolled his eyes playfully but he would always be grateful for the sacrifice they had made for him, they had performed a complex, dangerous and in their case, illegal form of magic to accompany him and risk their lives when he was at his most dangerous in the hopes of making his life easier. They had become Animagus', a type of transfiguration many would only ever be able to dream of achieving, for him if he was still in doubt about their friendship that sacrifice would certainly have proved how much they cared for him.

Once all the boys were ready they filled the remainder of their journey eating a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans laughing at each other's screwed-up faces and gagging due to the more questionable flavours, James was unlucky enough to get what he thought was a sweaty sock flavoured bean much to amusement of the rest of the boys, he was still grumbling about the unfairness of it all as they stepped off the train onto the platform at Hogsmeade Station, and made their way to get a carriage up to the school.

The great hall was as warm and welcoming as ever as the students began to enter eager for the welcome feast to begin, the hall looked magnificent and was lit beautifully by many candles of different shapes and sizes floating high above the tables. The four boys sat in the centre of Gryffindor table, Sirius and James had always revelled in being the centre of attention and it was them who had chosen their seats for the night.

Remus looked around contentedly he finally felt like he was back home, ever since Sirius, James and Peter had befriended him he had felt happier than he could ever remember being. When they had found out about his furry little problem, a name he found rather ridiculous, and still accepted him he always eagerly anticipated his return to Hogwarts to be with his friends, much more than the solemn atmosphere of his father's house, but he couldn't blame his father a part of him had died alongside Remus' mother on that fateful night Greyback had attacked.

Remus was pulled away from his sombre thoughts by the change in the room, silence had descended as the first years entered the hall, he looked down to see the nervous faces of the young students being led by Professor McGonagall, the sorting was about to begin.

Remus remembered how nervous he had felt as he was sorted, he had been afraid he would be rejected and not fit in any house whatsoever, that it was all a cruel joke that someone with his problem would be allowed to go to school, but it wasn't and after the sorting hat had bellowed Gryffindor giving Remus quite the shock he realised that it was all in fact true and he remember the feeling of nervousness being replaced with relief and a quiet excitement as he had taken his place at the Gryffindor table. The sorting was done in alphabetical order by your surname, Remus remembered how Peter Pettigrew was the next of the Marauders to be sorted following himself, he looked shocked to be picked as a Gryffindor and looked nervous as he took his seat, then came James Potter who strode up to the stool with confidence the hat barely touched his head before it shouted Gryffindor, James grinned wildly as he took his seat at the table. Sirius Black had been sorted before them all, the hats decision had seemed to take longer with him than the rest of the students that year and Sirius had sat with a frown on his face as if he had heard something distasteful before a grin spread across it and the hat had declared Gryffindor. Remus had noted the whispers in the hall as Sirius strode to the table with a proud look on his face, it was only much later he had found out that the Blacks were a renowned pure-blood family who were Slytherin to the core. He had sat opposite Sirius after he had been sorted and was surprised when Sirius had smiled at him extending his hand in welcome

"Hey there, I'm Sirius" he said confidently his hand still extended.

Remus recalled his nervous surprise, he never really had any friends his own age growing up as he spent most of his time alone or with his father, Lyall Lupin, his father had warned Remus against socialising with others upon his arrival at Hogwarts however he didn't want to appear rude so he had shaken Sirius' hand responding with as little as possible offering only his name "Remus"

"Merlin! That's a strong grip you have there, you nearly crushed my hand"

Remus had paled dramatically quickly apologising "I'm so sorry"

Sirius had laughed it off "You're a tough one, maybe you could be a beater when you're older, I know I'm going to be on the house team in a couple of years, Quidditch is amazing, don't you agree?"

Despite his father's warning Remus had let his curiosity get the better of him asking "I'm sorry what is Quidditch?"

Remus laughed recalling the outrage on Sirius' face as he delved into an in-depth description of Quidditch telling Remus the rules, his favourite team, what position he wanted to play and everything Quidditch related that popped into his head. This was a discussion James had joined wholeheartedly as he sat down and their friendship had begun from there.

"What are you laughing at?" Sirius' question dragged Remus out of his thoughts, he looked around realising the sorting was over and an array of food was now laid out on the table, he had even missed Dumbledore's speech he realised guiltily.

"I was just thinking about our sorting"

"Oh, the best day of your life you mean?"

"Best day?" Remus enquired.

"Why certainly meeting me was obviously the best day of your life"

Remus chuckled shaking his head and reached for some food he was feeling quite hungry and wanted to eat so he could get up to bed and get to sleep as tomorrow was the first day of lessons. The feast was delicious there were many different roasted meats and vegetables, cooked expertly by the house elves, however Remus was much more interested in the chocolate pudding that would be coming once the main course food was vanished.

Once the feast was over Remus rose quickly to help the other Gryffindor prefects escort the first years up to the dormitory, Sirius, James, and Peter walked up slowly all of them feeling full and tired from the feast. Once they had arrived at their room Remus was already changed into his pyjamas and in bed reading a book.

"Do you ever put those down?" Sirius teased.

"You won't be complaining once you're asking me for help later in the year?" Remus shot back.

James laughed "He's got you there Padfoot"

"You shush Prongs" Sirius responded throwing a pillow at James, which started a pillow throwing battle that lasted all of five minutes before Remus annoyed at being distracted when trying to read levitated the pillows high into the air out of their reach.

"Please will you guys just stop it, I want to finish this chapter before lessons begin tomorrow" he said casting a stern look at the two boys.

James and Sirius muttered their apologies and Remus allowed the pillows to drop onto the floor, once they had been collected and put back onto the beds the rest of the boys got ready for bed as it was beginning to get late.

Sirius was the first to re-enter the room he looked at Remus mischievously "What is it?" Remus asked.

"You look sexy when you're angry" Sirius replied

"Bugger off" Remus laughed.

"Am I hearing right you think our Moony is sexy?" James asked as he too returned into the room.

"You did indeed, don't be trying to steal my man Potter" Sirius responded.

Remus sighed "I am not your man and I told you that I am trying to read don't make me put a silencing charm on you both"

"See I told you Prongs he's sexy when he's angry" James laughed and Sirius shot Remus a dazzling smile.

"I don't know how I put up with you two" he said whilst turning the page of his book.

Peter came back into the room looking confused at James and Sirius' laughter "What did I miss?"

"Them two being prats as per usual" Remus answered.

After some discussion of possible pranks they could perform before the week was out to in James' words "Welcome back the Marauders" the boys settled down to sleep to get some much-needed rest before lessons began in the morning.


	2. Lessons Begin

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Two**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story they belong to the wonderful and amazing J. K. Rowling.**

 **2nd September 1976**

The first morning back at Hogwarts for the Marauders was of course a mess, Sirius overslept, Remus was flustered trying to pack all his books in one bag for the first day, James spent the entire time before breakfast ruffling his hair up only to flatten it a minute later, unsatisfied with the result, and Peter complained that he was hungry and needed his breakfast. The boys eventually made it to the hall after Remus' insistence they hurry up to get their timetables which was strongly backed up by Peter however his concern was more for his stomach, as they entered the hall Remus noticed the glare being sent there way from Severus Snape.

"Padfoot, what did you do to Snape on the train?"

"Moony why are you asking such a thing?"

"Sirius?" He questioned sternly.

"I may have suggested he make improvements to his hair care regime" He answered flippantly.

"Go on?"

"Then I _may_ have used agaumenti to dump water on his head to speed the process along"

James begun to laugh loudly attracting the eyes of many students, Remus sighed sometimes he couldn't help but feel sorry for Snape but no matter what he said to James and Sirius they wouldn't end their tormenting. The boys took their seats and tucked into a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausages, and bacon with crunchy buttered toast. Professor McGonagall and the other House Heads made their way up the tables providing the students with their new timetables. As she arrived around the Marauders she gave them a tight-lipped glare, she was sure they would have done something to deserve it before lunch time today, they were handed their timetables and given quick warning to behave themselves.

"I know you boys will undoubtedly be causing some form of mayhem this year but be warned your NEWT lessons from today onward will have officially begun, these are a big advancement on the OWL work from last year so please do try to take it seriously and do your house proud, I will not hesitate to put you boys in detentions and deduct points, as a prefect I expect you to reign these boys in Mister Lupin"

"I always take things seriously Professor, my name is Sirius after all" Sirius answered in a most sincere voice.

McGonagall sighed and shot the boys one last stern look before continuing along the table to the next group of. As they all began to look at their timetables Sirius loudly exclaimed "Do we have to do NEWTs?"

"If you want to have a good career then yes" Remus replied matter-of-factly.

"I was thinking we could just run away together, you and I, the whirlwind romance that is Padfoot and Moony" Sirius responded.

Remus shook his head and continued to look at his timetable, James sniggered whilst Peter seemed oblivious to his timetable and the conversation altogether as he was trying to eat as much as possible before his first lesson.

"Let's see… we have Transfiguration first, well we know we are fine for this" James said smugly.

"If you had read The Guide to Advanced Transfiguration you would know there is a big difference in the types of transfiguration we will be performing this year and that _some_ types are completely different to others" Remus retorted, making sure not to utter the word Animagi, he knew they would understand his meaning.

"Relax Moony, let us see yours then" Sirius interjected whipping Remus' timetable out of his hands glancing down at it "Merlin! Moony how many lessons have you taken?"

"Only eight"

"You know our Moony he is the books man; he means serious business with these NEWTs" James smiled at Remus.

"How about you Peter what are you taking?" Remus asked, he was always sure to include Peter as he sometimes felt he was overlooked.

"Here" He managed to say in between bites passing the timetable to Remus, Sirius looked down at it as Remus read over it.

"You aren't doing Potions with us?" Sirius asked passing the timetable back to Peter.

"I didn't get an E in our OWLs" Peter admitted.

Remus looked up from his own timetable noticing the great hall was beginning to empty "Come on we best get to Transfiguration"

Sirius and James shoved their timetables into their bags whilst Remus carefully placed his in between his textbooks, he had already committed it to memory, but it was useful to keep it at least readable he thought to himself. Peter looked forlorn to be leaving the food so soon as they left the Great Hall to head for the Transfiguration classroom.

The boys arrived at Transfiguration with little time to spare and took their places at the back, everyone knows the back was the best place to be for mischievous pranksters. Soon enough McGonagall strode in to the room to begin her lesson. After explaining the importance of NEWTs and reiterating her lack of tolerance for disturbances in her classroom she began the lesson.

"The first part of this course will be related to human transfiguration, this is a difficult form of transfiguration that we will extensively work on this year and the following year in preparation for your NEWTs" She paused looking around the room to ensure everyone was paying attention before continuing "There are many forms of human transfiguration, one of the most infamous is the ability to become an Animagus, a person who can transform into an animal form at will" at that there were a few murmurs around the class, Sirius nudged Remus and winked at him. McGonagall shot a stern look to silence the class "As some of you may know becoming an Animagus is a highly complicated and dangerous form of transfiguration as such there are very few Animagus and those who are must be registered at the Ministry of Magic, we will not be covering this practically in any of your NEWT classes as that type of transfiguration is not only complex but is entirely different than the human transfiguration we will be performing"

Sirius looked crestfallen and whispered to James "I'm sure she's just trying to put people off; it won't be much different"

"No speaking in my class Mister Black, do not make me take points from my own house on the first day" James snickered at McGonagall's reprimand earning himself a steely look.

"We will first be looking at the theory behind different types of human transfiguration, until I am satisfied you acknowledge the risks and are familiar with this form of magic we will not begin the practical implementation" This earned a few disgruntled sighs and looks from the sixth-year students.

After lunch, it was time for Herbology a lesson which only three of the Marauders had selected, James, Sirius, and Peter, meanwhile Remus had History of Magic with Professor Binns. The boys trudged over to the Greenhouses together having bid Remus goodbye in the great hall, the September air was mild enough, although it would soon be setting in cold over the coming weeks.

"I can't believe Moony has abandoned us to do History of Magic it is so boring" Sirius huffed.

"Stop being so dramatic, I'm sure you can survive an afternoon without him"

"I need his intellectual conversation to save me from the likes of you Prongs" Sirius teased.

Upon arriving at the Greenhouses, the boys discovered they had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs the class had been split between the year as the greenhouse could only hold so many students at once, the boys had decided this should be an easy NEWT when they initially selected it. However, by the end of the lesson Peter had to be taken to the Hospital Wing after being bitten by a young Venomous Tentacula Plant, luckily the thick layers of his robes had taken the brunt of the attack. Professor Sprout gave them an exasperated look allowing them to leave ten minutes early to escort Peter to the castle.

Madame Pomfrey shook her head as she seen the three boys striding through the infirmary doors, it would be those boys to be here on the first day of lessons a mischievous bunch they are she thought to herself.

"I've been savaged" Peter wailed dramatically for the benefit of Sirius and James earning himself a few laughs.

"Will I ever get a year away from your mayhem?"

"Oh, Poppy you love our visits" Sirius attempted to charm her.

"It is Madame Pomfrey to you Mister Black, and I think it may be time for you to go to the great hall I'm sure Mister Potter can wait with Mister Pettigrew, run along"

Sirius sported a wounded look on his face as he stepped back gripping his broken heart, he was quite the performer, James, and Peter grinned wildly at his antics.

"I shall take my leave; never have I ever been rejected so harshly" He cried.

Madame Pomfrey hid her smile and shooed him out of her Hospital Wing.

Sirius made his way to the great hall to find Remus he couldn't wait to tell him all about Peters great battle with the Venomous Tentacula Plant, although Moony was considered the sensible one Sirius knew he was as much of a Marauder as he and loved his dramatic flair for telling stories. He quickly spotted Remus upon entering the hall he was sat by himself on the Gryffindor table surrounded by books and a roll of parchment, trust Moony to be getting straight on with his work, well Sirius would be sharp changing that he grinned to himself as he strode over.

Sirius plonked himself down loudly next to Remus. "Why hello there my good fellow, I do so hope you are not doing homework already?" Sirius asked in a mock serious tone.

Remus glanced up at Sirius and smiled "I'm just writing up some notes for Transfiguration"

"Well you need to stop I have a grand tale to tell you off a savage attack, some brave heroes and a broken heart"

Remus put his book aside this would be good "Please do tell?"

Sirius proceeded to describe Peters full blown battle with the monstrous Venomous Tentacula Plant, he didn't hold back on his and James heroic rescue and their treacherous journey to the Infirmary to save Wormtail's life. His story was ended with the heartbreak he suffered at the hands of Poppy Pomfrey the woman he had hoped to marry, he had concluded the only way his broken heart could be mended was if Remus stopped doing all school related work immediately and joined him outside to go flying until it was time to meet the others for tea. Remus reluctantly agreed to accompany Sirius to the Quidditch Pitch however he refused to fly saying he could sit nearby and read whilst Sirius flew.

Sirius was soon up above the Quidditch Pitch with the cold nipping at his ankles as his robe billowed behind him, he rose high before looping rapidly and going into a steep dive, Sirius loved to fly and Quidditch was his passion, when he was younger he had dreamed of becoming a professional Quidditch player but his mother, Walburga Black, had been certain to stamp that dream early on in his childhood stating it was "unbecoming and too common for the heir of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black". Sirius wasn't even allowed his broom during the holidays anymore as a punishment for his insolence and general Gryffindor attitude. So, upon his return to the castle he was eager to get out in the air as soon as possible, he felt calm when he was high in the sky just him and his broom and the breeze through his long black hair.

Sirius looked down towards the stands at Remus it boggled his mind that Moony would prefer to read and study than fly and play Quidditch but that was just one of the quirks that made Moony who he was, Sirius remembered when he had first spoken to Remus, it was at the sorting in their first year and he had found out Remus' lack of knowledge on Quidditch and had took it upon himself to enlighten Remus on the wonderful sport all the way to the dormitory, when they had arrived and found that Peters bed was on the same side of the room as Remus' Sirius just had to swap so he could continue his excited chatter, that was how the sleeping arrangements had stayed ever since.

Sirius always found his friendship with Remus to be different than with the others, Moony was more reserved whereas James was boisterous, Moony was caring and understanding, even to foul slimy gits like Snivellus, Sirius felt protective of Moony he had noticed his sickly appearance and weird disappearances before the others and putting two and two together had stumbled upon Remus' problem. Sirius was never one to partake or promote studying but he had enlisted the help of James and Peter in scouring the library and any resource available to them to find a way to help Moony.

"Sirius!" Remus' shouting cut through his thoughts.

He directed his broom down towards him "Yeah?"

"We best get going its dark, tea will be ready soon and I prefer not having to read using lumos it's not as good for your eyes it's much better to read in a well-lit room"

"Well if it's going to affect your reading we must hurry back to castle this instant"

Remus shot Sirius a friendly glare at his mocking and stowed his book back into his bag "I'll meet you next to the broom shed"

Sirius soared down to the shed and went inside to store his broom, he exited and was surprised to see Remus stood already waiting for him, he shook his head to himself it was sometimes easy to forget that Remus was faster and stronger than he, when Remus walked around in baggy robes with a book always tucked under his arm or a quill and parchment in front of him solving calculations it was hard to envision the powerful beast that dwelled within him.

"There a problem Padfoot?" Remus asked looking at him with a confused expression.

"I just forget how fast you are sometimes"

"Oh, well yes my athletic prowess is something many are jealous of" Remus replied with a laugh.

Sirius smiled at Remus and began to head towards the castle, he remembered when he had first confronted Remus about his problem, Remus had seemed to loathe himself and was so scared that Sirius and everybody else would hate him too, with the acceptance of his friends and their support Remus had reached a place where he could make the occasional joke about his affliction, Sirius sometimes still saw the doubt in Remus' eyes, and the worry, but he didn't pass comment all he could do was make sure Remus knew he had him, and that he had the others, they were the Marauders after all and they looked after one another.


	3. Beautiful Golden Locks

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Three**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story they belong to the utter genius J. K. Rowling.**

 **Late September 1976**

In the first week of September Sirius and James completed their "welcome back prank" they managed to slip a potion into the pumpkin juice supply which made all the students who were unlucky enough to drink it at breakfast sing instead of talk for the full day until an antidote could be found and supplied to the students at tea that night. When questioned by Professor McGonagall about their knowledge on the situation, the two boys had played innocent, however Sirius' comment that he thought "everyone must be so joyous to return to school they simply couldn't help but sing" earned him and James a detention

After that incident, the next few weeks of school were relatively calm and flew by quickly for the four marauders as they settled into their NEWT schedules and attempted to make their way through the ever-growing mountain of homework that was being assigned to them. The calm however was broken one morning late September when a screeching James burst through the dormitory door waking up the three other occupants.

Remus caught the blurred shape of James diving into the bathroom before he slammed the door shut behind him. It was still early and Remus was tired from the night before as he had difficulty sleeping and spent most of the night tossing around his bed, the moon was near and it made the wolf anxious and eager to escape.

"Prongs you loud mouth git what on earth are you waking us up for at this ungodly hour you know Peter needs all the beauty sleep he can get?" Sirius demanded.

"Hey!" Peter exclaimed looking insulted, but he quickly shrugged it off as he was also intrigued as to what could get James screaming like a little child.

No answer came from the bathroom so Sirius huffed and rose out of bed to try the door, it wouldn't budge and after a tactical alohomora still didn't open the door they begun to realise something bad must have happened, Prongs wouldn't usually use complex locking charms around them.

Remus felt tired and irritable but decided to help "Prongs what's happened? We cannot help you if you won't speak to us, we need to go to breakfast and I'd much prefer to not be late and be able to use the bathroom before we have to leave"

It was at this point James spoke for the first time since his ear-splitting scream had rang out throughout the dormitory "She's bloody mental!"

"Who's mental?" Sirius asked.

"Evans"

Remus, Sirius and Peter shared a knowing look, Lily must have hexed James after a failed attempt at flirting, however this seemed to be an overreaction even for James' standards.

"Come on out it can't be that bad" Remus encouraged.

The door clicked after a couple of minutes and James re-entered the room. "MERLIN!" Sirius cackled as he saw James' appearance. Even Peter and Remus joined in on the laughing.

James eyes met that of his friends with a wounded look of betrayal "See even you three are laughing"

"What did you do this time mate?"

"I didn't do anything" James answered Sirius.

"Prongs you don't get long golden locks with bright pink bows in for nothing, although I must say you look like quite the pretty princess" Sirius added with a wink.

James flung himself down on his bed grumpily "I thought Evans liked me why would she ruin my good hair like this"

Sirius looked at James in disbelief "I think you must be the only person who thinks Evans likes you"

James then went on to explain to his fellow Marauders the tale of how he had acquired golden locks to rival that Rapunzel girl Remus had once told them about from the Muggle fairy-tale. It had all begun early that morning, James had woken up before everyone else and decided he would go for a run around the Quidditch Pitch he wanted to keep in shape as this year he would leading the Gryffindor Team in winning the Quidditch Cup, and he wasn't going to achieve that if he didn't put the effort in. On his way, back to the castle he had spotted Evans who was out walking the grounds, she didn't spot him until he was close, he was in his Quidditch gear and flashed Lily his best smile whilst he ruffled his hair and had asked "Like what you see Evans?" that is when Lily had lost it and hexed his hair into the monstrosity it now was and screamed at James to run before she did something worse. James had made his escape back to his dorm and had proceeded to sit in the bathroom for fifteen minutes ignoring the other Marauders in the hope he could reverse the spell.

At the end of the story Sirius and Peter were laughing, Sirius more so at James' misfortune, it wasn't the first-time James had been at the receiving end of Lily's wand. Remus however looked thoughtful and had excused himself soon after the tale had been told, Remus was going to find Lily and he knew exactly where to find her, in the Library.

Upon entering the Library Remus realised there was only one other person in the room with him, his senses always got stronger around the full moon, Madam Pince must be having breakfast down in the great hall he thought. It didn't take long to find Lily hidden deep among the books of the restricted section she looked up when she heard footsteps, her face was red and puffy and her eyes were full of unshed tears, she quickly turned away.

Trying to compose herself she spoke "Oh hello Remus, you here for a book?"

Remus laughed softly "No actually I came here to commend you on the hairstyle you gave James it is ever so pretty"

Lily smiled faintly, but the smile didn't quite meet her eyes "Oh yes well he's always ruffling it so I thought he might appreciate more to play with"

Remus stepped closer "What's wrong Lils you know you can talk to me?"

Lily began to violently shake as a new wave of tears hit her, Remus rushed towards his friend wrapping a protective arm around her "It's okay Lily, it's okay we don't have to talk about it, why don't we go see Madam Pomfrey I'm sure she'll have something to help you, maybe a calming draught?"

Lily straightened up at this "No Remus its quite alright I don't want to cause a fuss" She swallowed and breathed deeply before continuing "It was just my sister, Petunia, she wrote to me to inform me she was getting married and that there was no need for me contact her again since she was starting her new life away from freaks like me" Lily paused composing herself further before quietly adding "It's just I need to be able to check she's okay Remus, the attacks on Muggleborn families have been increasing what if something happens and I don't find out, she doesn't want to know me anymore I don't know what to do?"

Remus looked at his friend with sympathy, he and Lily had never really spoken to one another until last year, it was after Remus had a bad transformation. Sirius and James couldn't accompany him to the shack as they had ended up in the infirmary after possibly the most violent Gryffindor vs Slytherin Quidditch match to occur at Hogwarts, not wanting to make the boys feel guilty at his state he had hid away in the Library. That is where Lily had stumbled upon him, she was always a bright girl and one of Remus' main contenders for high marks DADA, he should have known she would figure out his condition, she had spoken to him that day and asked him to go for a walk, it was outside the castle away from the gossipers listening ears she had confessed she knew what he was and asked him if there was anything he needed. For some reason, still unclear to himself he had confided in her that night instead of brushing off her comment and trying to cover up his secret. Remus was never a person to trust or to share his secrets but there was something about Lily Evans that had made him open himself up, he thought that she had a way of seeing the beauty in others, even, and perhaps most especially, when that person couldn't see it in themselves and that made her special.

Lily had been there for him and now he was able to return the favour he knew her fear, he himself had some Muggle family, on his mother Hopes side, and he felt the stress of not being able to protect those he loved, those defenceless and without magic, he had also suffered rejection from his father due to his affliction so in a way he could imagine how Lily felt when her own Sister was cutting ties with her, however his father still took him in, he knew all of this would be over the fact she was a Witch, the animosity had come up in conversations in the past. He wasn't sure what Lily needed she had always seemed so strong, had such a fiery personality and was much better at being the supporting friend but he would try, he knew one thing Lily would always love and that is practicing Charms. "I know it's getting late and we should be going up to lessons but would you like to go down to the Lake and practice some Charms instead?" he asked hoping a friend and a distraction would do Lily some good.

And that was the first and only time Remus John Lupin missed a mornings worth of lessons without permission from a teacher, caring for a friend was more important than anything, school included, being a Marauder had taught him that, and he knew Lily needed company right now she would be feel rejected by one of the people who were meant to love her the most, so he spent the morning trying to entertain her and bring a smile back to her face.

Back inside of Hogwarts below ground down in the dungeons in the Potions Classroom two of the Marauders were sat very confused as to where Remus and Lily were, James was soon openly panicking demanding that he, Sirius, and Peter leave to search for the two missing Gryffindors.


	4. Misunderstandings

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Four**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story they belong to the queen that is J. K. Rowling.**

 **Late September 1976**

It took all of Sirius' skills to talk James out of storming out of Potions to set up a search party for Remus and Lily, he somehow managed to convince James nothing serious had happened saying that surely Dumbledore would have made an announcement if something terrible had occurred, despite this Sirius could feel his concern building it wasn't like those two to ever miss a lesson, also why were they both gone? Were they doing something together? Sirius scowled at that thought, surely not they weren't friends they only spoke to do their prefect rounds together. Wherever they were Sirius hoped they appeared soon for James' sake as he was sure he wasn't far off going berserk.

At lunch Remus and Lily finally made their way back up to the castle, Lily once again appeared strong and happy a pleasant smile graced her face, they entered the hall to a rather mixed reaction. There was instantly the stern glare from their head of house Professor McGonagall, then there were glares coming from Severus and surprisingly Sirius, James' face was by far the most expressive, there was shock, joy, confusion, and relief flashing back and forth across his features. As they approached the table Sirius loudly called out "So you have both returned, have you?" If Remus wasn't mistaken there was a snappish tone to his voice.

"Yes, we have Black not that it's any of your business" Lily retorted.

"I am so glad you are okay Lily!" James quickly cut in.

Lily turned her frown onto James and replied, "Such a lovely hairdo you have Potter"

James blanched, then his face suddenly changed into a deep crimson colour, it would seem in his worry for Lily and Remus' whereabouts he had completely forgotten about his current hair related predicament.

Sirius stood up to face Lily "You are such a bitch Evans, the guy only likes you, but you are too stuck up to give anyone the time of day with your perfect grades and your prefect badge, learn to have some fun without being so spiteful will you!"

Everyone at the table looked shocked at Sirius' outburst, Lily included and she quickly stormed right back out of the hall, James' face suddenly darkened he looked ready to explode at Sirius. However, it was Remus who reacted first whirling his full attention to Sirius and he wasn't happy in the slightest "How could you be so rude Padfoot?!"

"She started it Remus she intentionally ruined James' hair and embarrassed him"

"If I remember correctly you seemed to find it _highly_ _amusing_ this morning"

"Yeah well I just realised how horrid she actually is"

Remus and James wore matching looks of outrage at this, "That's my friend!" Remus exclaimed whilst James called "That's my future wife"

Sirius however did not back down "Well she is, she is always being horrid to Prongs and she has you in trouble today I don't even want to know how she got you to skip a lesson"

"For one you don't know if I skipped a lesson, two you have no proof it was because of her I didn't attend my lesson, and three even if it was its none of your business"

"Yeah well I don't see what's so important about Evans"

"I forgot the only thing you think important is Quidditch"

Sirius stood with his mouth agape, no quick comeback popped in his brain so he had to stand in silence as he watched Remus stride out of the hall. James quickly followed he couldn't believe Padfoot would be so harsh, he was annoyed about his hair but not annoyed enough to justify that outburst, he decided that now was his chance to show Evans how caring he was by finding her to make sure she was okay.

Sirius sat back down, the silence at the table was broken by Peter "To be fair James' hair is pretty funny I do think Evans knows how to have a laugh" Peter was quickly silenced from saying anymore from the glare he received from the remaining Marauder at the table.

James sped his pace up as he neared the entrance hall hoping to find and comfort Evans however instead of finding a distraught Lily he found Remus and Lily talking quietly to each other. They were stood far too close for acquaintances, then he recalled Remus shouting at Padfoot that Evans was his friend, he wasn't aware of any such friendship. Remus then began to gently rub Lily on the back, in James' opinion they looked very friendly then it dawned on him that Remus and Lily must have a secret relationship, he couldn't believe this, first Padfoot was horrible to the love of his life and now Remus had betrayed him and stole her?! He felt too heartbroken to be angry and darted up the stairs to run back to the common room.

Lily and Remus were unaware of James' presence as they spoke quietly to one another "Just ignore Sirius Lily he speaks before he thinks"

"I can handle Black by myself Remus it's okay"

"I know but you don't deserve to have someone call you names for no reason like that"

"Yeah? Well I am quite used to that Remus, the Slytherins find it amusing to call me a mudblood often enough"

Remus raised his hand and gently rubbed her back at that statement he didn't know what to say, if people knew he was a werewolf he would be called monster, Lily like himself could not help who she was, although Remus thought werewolves had earned the title of being monsters, he believed no one deserved to be put down for their parentage.

"Please don't say that word" Remus finally responded.

Lily smiled up at him "It's okay Remus, I'm Lily Evans you have seen what I did to James' hair this morning I can give as good as I get and I won't let Black or a few snakes put me down, I'm going to go apologise to Professor Slughorn for missing his lesson this morning would you like to come with me? Remus agreed and they both made their way down to the dungeons to find the Potions Professor before the lunch break ended.

The rest of the afternoon past by painfully slow, James was now missing from afternoon classes and the remaining Marauders sat in silence, Sirius spent most of his time glaring at Lily who, much to his annoyance, didn't seem to care in the slightest. Tea in the great hall was also tense with many of the students shooting glances to where the Marauders were seated, as with anything in Hogwarts, gossip spread like wildfire and the news of the argument at lunchtime was known by everyone.

All the boys eventually made their way back to their dormitory upon entering they found a pitiful looking James sat in his bed. James shot up as the door opened and cast his meanest glare at his supposed friends, Sirius also looked angry, Remus looked tired and Peter as per looked oblivious. Remus quickly made his way into the bathroom to have a shower and get ready for bed, he really wasn't in the mood for James or Sirius' immaturity tonight, he was irritable as it was because of the closeness of the full moon and he hadn't slept well the past few nights he just wanted to get ready and go straight to bed.

Unfortunately for Remus when he exited the bathroom the awkward silence did not meet him as he had expected, but instead he walked in to a full-blown argument, James was wildly brandishing his wand as he shouted at Padfoot, noticing Remus had re-entered the room he turned his anger to him "AND YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!"

Remus was stumped, he had no idea why James would verbally attack him questioning his position as a friend he went to ask what it was he had done but was cut off before he could get a single word out.

"What has Moony ever done wrong to you eh?" Sirius bellowed, "You need to realise it's that girl who is the bad one, she has Moony in trouble for skipping classes and she constantly attacks you Prongs give it up already there's plenty of other nicer girls"

"I did not get in any trouble we spoke to Professor Slughorn" Remus hurriedly responded before turning to James "And what have I done wrong to you?"

James scoffed "What have you done wrong, what have you done, unbelievable, you _betrayed_ me"

Sirius and Remus looked at James in confusion "I am sorry you're upset James but I really have no idea what it is you're talking about, how have I betrayed you?" Remus was beginning to worry he didn't want to lose his friend but he couldn't think of a single thing he had done that would anger James in such a way.

"You stole my beautiful flower from me" He wailed "Evans was meant to be my future wife, I was going to ask her to the first Hogsmeade weekend soon, but you, you traitor, you stole her from me, I know all about your secret relationship!"

Sirius turned to Remus in shock even Peter perked up at that statement, who up until that point had tried to remain invisible in the corner to try and avoid the rage of the others, Remus however looked the most confused "Why on earth would you think I've stolen Lily from you, I am not seeing Lily, I most certainly do not like her like that"

"Well I seen you both in the entrance hall at lunch, I followed you out of the hall to check Evans was okay but obviously, you made it there before me" James bitterly responded.

Realisation dawned on Remus, of course the way he and Lily were stood would have looked suspicious, he had kept his growing friendship with Lily quiet, they had bonded over his lycanthropy, he had kept his bad transformation from the others not wanting them to feel guilty and therefore couldn't really find a suitable explanation to his sudden friendship with Lily so he instead he kept it to himself. Remus did not feel that gave James the right to throw around accusations like that and it definitely did not justify his reaction "Prongs for one I cannot believe you think I would go out with Lily when I know how much you like her, however she is not your property and you can't go around shouting she is yours, if she likes somebody else that is none of your business, me and Lily are only friends and have been since last year, I was talking to her today as a friend as she was upset, the reasons why are also none of your business so do not ask as I respect her privacy"

James had the sense to look sheepish "I didn't mean you were a bad friend Remus I'm so stupid I should know better than to think you would do that to me" He paused for a moment looking thoughtful before continuing "You are right as well I don't own Evans and I don't have the right to get so upset if she likes someone else, she deserves to be happy with whoever she chooses, I'm sorry"

Remus smiled at James he had no intention of holding a grudge, he knew James was irrational when it came to Lily he had fancied her since the moment he had set eyes on her, he was happy that James realised his reaction was too controlling though Lily was her own person and James needed to learn how to respect her, he was still so immature though and Remus believe that was one of the main reasons Lily had such a problem with the boy. "It's okay James we all know you get a little bit emotional when it comes to Lily" One silly argument resolved, Remus turned to Padfoot "I think you have something to say Padfoot" prompting him to apologise.

"Yes, actually I do" Instead of the expected apology to James he glared at Remus "Why have you been hiding your friendship with Lily?"

"I don't think that's your business"

"Well I say it is, we are the Marauders we shouldn't have any secrets"

Thinking to himself he debated his choices, do I tell them and be honest, Padfoot is right it's not good to have secrets from your friends, but then again, he didn't want James, Sirius, and Peter to feel guilty about missing a transformation. Remus decided it would be better to tell them and explained all about how he had snuck out of the hospital wing the morning after the moon before the other boys woke up to see him in his bad state. He had wondered around the castle before bumping into Lily who had realised his problem and offered him a listening ear and support from there he explained how he and Lily had studied for their OWLs together and continued their friendship doing their prefect rounds together and keeping each other updated on their lives.

After the story, Sirius turned to James "Mate, I'm sorry I was wrong about Evans if she has been there for Moony like that and kept his secret then she must be a decent person, I just was getting sick of the way she treated you, you're by best friend and I want you to be happy"

James grinned at Sirius waving off his apology he put his arm round his shoulder and looked glassy eyed as he replied, "See I told you she was the one boys she's amazing"

Now all the ridiculousness of the day had been sorted the boys finally settled down to go to sleep.


	5. Deceptive Potions

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Five**

 **Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who has been reading the story so far, I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I have been enjoying writing it** **I would love to hear your opinions on the story so far.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story they belong to the amazingly talented J. K. Rowling.**

 **Late September – Early October 1976**

The night following the Marauders arguments Remus found a bar of Honeydukes finest chocolate placed on his bed, a gift from Sirius, Remus shook his head and chuckled at his friend's apology. Sirius was sometimes hot headed and he knew it even if it took him some time to realise, he had jumped to conclusions and he felt ridiculous, however the one person he really should have apologised to, which was Lily, did not receive her apology until many days later.

In those few days prior to the apology Remus had his monthly battle with the moon, the first moon of the school year always had Madame Pomfrey fussing over him with the strictness and care of a stern mother. Peter, James, and Sirius accompanied him in their animal forms, and the evening of the full moon seen the unlikely group of creatures exploring the forbidden forest together, a rat clung to the antlers of a proud stag and a big black dog playfully ran circles around a curious and deadly looking wolf. The morning after Remus was plied with chocolate from his friends until Madame Pomfrey shooed them away to allow Remus to rest, thankfully the full moon had fell over the weekend meaning Remus was not required to explain his absence from lessons to his fellow students. It also allowed him plenty of time to recover, although since his friends had cracked the Animagus transformation his moons had been steadily improving, the wolf felt like it finally had a pack, a group to defend and interact with, one of the wolf's greatest pains had been its loneliness, since it had gained its animal friends it had taken less of its anger and aching out on the body within which it was trapped.

Tuesday morning at breakfast Sirius strode over to Lily, he extended his hand "I'm sorry Lily, I misjudged you and I had no right to say the things I said to and about you, I hope you can forgive my presumptuousness and start anew with me" In that moment the grace of being raised by a pureblood and traditional family radiated for all to see. Much to everyone's surprise Lily flashed Sirius a smile and took his hand lightly within her own shaking it.

"It is all forgotten" she replied with equal grace.

"Fantastic! I don't think I could bare being on the wrong end of your wand 'll leave that to Prongsy" Sirius polite and graceful façade was smashed at his teasing of James, he took his seat at the table and proceeded to stuff his face, earning a few laughs from the surrounding sixth year Gryffindor's.

James looked at the interaction with shock and envy, why couldn't Evans shake his hand he grumbled to himself eating his bacon sandwich. Remus just smiled it was nice to see the craziness of the other week forgotten and pushed aside, it was also a relief that the Marauders were aware of his and Lily's friendship, they were his friends, heck they were more like his family and he didn't like to knowingly withhold things from them.

The week went by steadily with no further hiccups, on Friday the date for the first Hogsmeade trip was posted in the common rooms of Hogwarts, James eagerly began to plan his invitation to Lily, he was sure this would be the trip which she agreed to accompany him, James with Sirius' help had also began training and some extra try-outs for the Quidditch team as the first match of the season would be the following month.

The weekend passed by in a blur of food, homework and exploding snap, the students were soon back to their lessons, the sixth years were quite shocked at the work load this early in the year their NEWTs weren't till the end of seventh year however the professors were adamant they needed to dedicate themselves to their studies now as they had mock tests at the end of the year and their studying now would provide them with the foundation of knowledge needed to excel in their NEWTs the following year.

Potions was no different and that week Professor Slughorn announced that the class would be paired up to learn the method and brew a selected potion, however the teams and potions would not be announced until the following class, this lesson was dedicated to theory behind three potions draught of living death, polyjuice potion and amortentia. Slughorn lectured the students on the power of the three potions, each could be used in the art of trickery and deception. The draught of living death allowed the drinker to enter a deep slumber imitating death, polyjuice allowed the drinker to take on the appearance of another and amortentia the most powerful of all the love potions allowed the brewer to trick another into a deep obsessive infatuation. At the end of the class the Professor reinforced the fact that none of the potions discussed should be taken or brewed outside of the class.

As the students made their way up to the hall for lunch the corridors were filled with excited chatter, the potions they were shown today were a major advancement on the content of the previous year's classes and the speculation of their projects was a main topic of discussion. Lily was thrilled at the prospect of what was to come and Remus could see the joy in her face as she animatedly discussed the class with him, since their friendship had been revealed they spoke often between classes whereas they used to mainly only meet for prefect rounds or revision in the library.

Remus himself was feeling less than enthusiastic, he had never taken to potions well, the theory he understood however the practical aspect often overwhelmed him, his heightened senses sometimes made it difficult to function correctly inside the classroom with the strong fumes and potent ingredients. Remus had never explicitly told anyone why he had selected so many NEWTs especially one such as potions where he sometimes struggled, but he knew someone with his affliction would need all the help he could get to find a job once he left Hogwarts and therefore he applied himself completely to his studies in the hope his excellent grades would be noticed and prayed someone as understanding as Dumbledore would one day hire him. He could only hope he was paired with a decent brewer, he didn't mind working extra on the theory side of their project if he had someone who could control the practical side with more ease than himself.

At lunch the boys told Peter all about their project and although Peter had failed quite terribly at potions he still seemed quite envious of them, he was especially interested in the polyjuice potion, James and Sirius also had an interest in that very potion, scheming of the pranking opportunities a brew such as that could offer was their main topic of discussion.

That night James and Sirius had yet another round of try-outs to attend, James had decided to run the try-outs over four separate days as he wanted to give everyone the chance to display all their skills but also to allow peoples nerves to settle so he could see their true flying and not the nervous flight of someone who was worried they might not make the team. Peter had excused himself from the dormitory telling Remus he was going to visit the kitchens, Peter had always been jealous that Sirius and James were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, however he lacked the necessary skill to be a member, Remus didn't really know how the empathise with him over this as he had never really developed a passion for flying, he found the matches fun and loved to support his house team however the attention and glory surrounding Quidditch just didn't appeal to him, Remus much preferred to allow his friends to take all the limelight.

Remus settled himself in the dormitory on his bed and decided to read his potions textbook to make concise notes on the three potions discussed in class today, he had no doubt that they would either be required to brew one of the three potions for their projects or they would at least have to write a homework essay on the benefits and origins of each potion. The more he read about the potions the more he became aware of the power and danger of each brew, although Professor Slughorn had tried to press the seriousness of the brews onto his students his round belly and face covered in laughter lines took away any menacing tone from his lectures. Remus made a mental note to talk to the boys about the polyjuice potion although it seemed funny to be able to turn into another person for an afternoon to cause mischief, in the wrong hands a potion like that could be highly dangerous, especially in the hands of dark wizards.


	6. Quidditch, Treats, and Potions

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Six**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story they belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.**

 **Early October – Mid October 1976**

The cool air whipped around Sirius' ears as he darted around high above the Quidditch field beaters bat in hand, he looked across the pitch at the new Gryffindor hopefuls, the team would be strong this year and he and James had their eyes on some young players for the reserves, the bludger whirled towards him and he smashed it towards a student trying out for a beaters position whooping when they managed a good smack of that bat sending the ball spinning away. Sirius weaved his way between the players watching them as they practiced their positions, he could hear James quizzing the candidates on fouls.

"Blagging?" Once James got a sufficient explanation he moved onto someone else shouting "Cobbing?" at them loudly. James grinned this year's try-outs were good and the team members from last year were flying well he was optimistic for their chances to win the Quidditch Cup this season, it was his first-year captaining, his parents Euphemia and Fleamont had been so excited to see his Captain badge in his Hogwarts letter, he was determined to make his parents, his team, and his house proud.

It was growing dark as he stopped the practice, directing the players to the changing rooms as he walked slowly behind with Sirius "So what you think Pads? It's going to be a good year, isn't it?"

"With some practice the seeker and keeper should be up to scratch for the first match, we have quite the team for the beaters and chasers too, obviously with us playing we can't lose"

"I can't wait to see the Slytherins faces when we destroy them" James laughed.

They made it to the changing rooms and went inside to congratulate the team on their flying and get ready to head back up to the school.

Whilst the try-outs were in full swing Peter sat at a table in the kitchens thoroughly fed up, eating a strawberry trifle provided by the eager house elves, they had been back at school for a month and all hope for being as popular as the other Marauders had been dashed. Peter had always been good at blending in and being overlooked, sometimes it was useful especially when it came to pranks, however he was sick of it, he had grown taller over the holidays and his mother had even taken him to get a new haircut and some new robes from Madam Malkins but it was no good next to James, Sirius, and Remus. They were all much smarter than he, James and Sirius were on the Quidditch team and had the looks and charm to make the girls of Hogwarts blush. Peter had felt so privileged to be part of their gang when they were younger but as they got older and Peter began struggling with lessons and kept his baby-faced appearance he couldn't help but grow jealous. He recalled the conversation at dinner about polyjuice potion, whilst James and Sirius raved about the pranking possibilities he had just imagined the chance to be someone more popular and interesting than himself for a day.

He finished his bowl of trifle just as James and Sirius strolled into the kitchens laughing loudly, he looked up and plastered a smile on his face, although he was jealous of them they were his friends and they always included him on their pranks and their secrets. "How were the try-outs guys?"

"Great!" James and Sirius said in unison. "We have come for snacks, you going to help us Wormtail, then we'll head up to the common room?" James added.

"Sure" He jumped up from his seat and helped the boys collect the savoury and sugary treats pushed into their arms from the house elves. Just as they were heading through the door Sirius called out that he needed to pick up one extra treat then he would see them up in the common room.

Sirius had looked at their treat yield as they went to leave and realised there was no chocolatey treat for Remus, they had cheese bread, pumpkin pasties, strawberry tarts, and other delicious delights but Remus was a chocolate fiend and Sirius knew it would make his friend happy to get one. He flashed his best smile at the house elves and was rewarded with a slice of chocolate gateau, he levitated the treat behind him for safety it wouldn't do to give Remus a smushed up slice of cake, then he made the mad dash back to the common room.

Back in the dorm the boys sat around on their beds eating their treats discussing plans for their annual Halloween prank.

"It needs to be massive"

"The wildest prank yet" Sirius agreed.

Peter nodded his head along to James and Sirius, Remus was occupied eating his chocolate cake and couldn't contribute in that moment but he flashed a look at Sirius to show he was as excited as the rest of them. Although Remus was a prefect and was hoping to become head boy next year he had a mischievous streak and some fun in the school during dark times was good for everybody, laughter went a long way to helping in the fight against prejudice, it showed people life went on.

"We could have crazy flying pumpkins and charm candy to explode out of them" Sirius offered.

After swallowing his last bite of cake Remus responded, "That's possibly dangerous Pads"

"How about we have cauldrons bounce across the tables at breakfast?" Came an idea from James.

"But the food?!" Peter exclaimed.

"Hmm yeah I didn't think of that" he admitted.

"Any grand ideas Remus?" Sirius inquired.

"A few, I want to go check out the library though for some new spells we could use, I don't have anything that could work fully yet though"

"Oooh Moony tell us" James eagerly requested.

"No, not yet Prongs" Remus laughed "I want to know what spells we could use before I start offering ideas"

"Fine" He huffed.

A few more ideas were tossed around before the boys decided to call it a night and settle down to bed, they had a day full of lessons tomorrow and needed to be well rested.

By the end of the week James had informed the players and reserves of their positions and gently let down the students who hadn't made the Quidditch team, he did still congratulate them on their effort and made sure to let them know they should try out next year as well if they wished, reminding them to still practice with their brooms, one thing James took seriously was Quidditch and he would never harshly dash someone's Quidditch dreams.

The next potions lesson was soon upon them and the sixth-year students waited eagerly in the cold dungeon corridor to be let into the classroom, once again the excited chatter and speculation of their projects filled the air.

The door swung open to reveal the smiling face of Professor Slughorn "Come in, come in" he encouraged the students, they quickly took their seats and waited for Slughorn to begin the lesson.

Lily sat at the edge of her stool, she loved potions and couldn't wait to begin her project, she like Remus, had already begun extra reading and studying in relation to three potions they had been taught about the previous lesson.

"I'm sure you all remember the potions we studied last time and I hope some of you have begun to think about the benefits and dangers of such brews, today I will partner you up and you will rearrange your seating, you will be working closely with your partners for the upcoming weeks" Sirius and James eyed each other and grinned, sure they would be partnered together, Slughorn although kind to all his students knew of the animosity between the houses and would not partner any Gryffindors and Slytherins together, the class itself was mainly made up off Ravenclaw and Slytherin students, with only a handful of Gryffindor's. The pairs were called out until only Remus, Lily, James, and Sirius were left. "Sirius, you are with Remus, so that leaves Lily with James"

James looked astounded he couldn't believe his luck, whereas Lily looked slightly horrified, she was sure she would have been with Remus or perhaps a Ravenclaw student, why was she so unlucky she questioned. Sirius moved from next to James to a desk with Remus, Lily however remained seated, so James walked to her "Evans you excited for the project?"

"I was" she muttered.

"Settle down everybody, now that you are in your pairs it's time to find out what it is you will be brewing" Slughorn continued excitedly "I have here a hat and inside are two potions, one person from each pair will select a ticket from inside with the name of your potion"

The hat went around the room quickly, once it reached Sirius and Remus' desk Sirius looked at Remus offering him the chance to pluck the potion from the hat, Remus grinned dipping his hand in he pulled out the paper ticket, in elegant text it read 'Draught of Living Death' James picked for he and Lily as Lily showed no interest in doing the selection, their ticket read 'Enchanting Philtre'

"Enchanting Philtre?" James asked aloud confused.

Lily sighed "Do you do any extra studying Potter? It is a love potion"

"But I thought the love potion was called Amortentia?"

"Do you really think Professor Slughorn would have sixth-year students brewing the strongest known love potion?" She asked exasperatedly.

Before James could respond Slughorn continued to speak to the class "I can see some very excited faces, before you all dive in though let's discuss how this project will work. Firstly, you will be studying the ingredients in the potion and the brewing method, each student will submit a two-foot roll of parchment on the method to ensure you are all competent, then we will begin the brewing, a final essay will then be submitted this one however will be a joint piece of work, it will explain the benefits and dangers of your potion, the applications of your brew, you will also discuss how to counter the potion and show your knowledge on the brewing process as a whole" Slughorn then informed the students of the deadlines for each element of their project, he finished up by reminding the students they would only be allowed to brew the potions within class, any theoretical study could be done elsewhere though, he then ended the lesson early advising students to head up to the library to begin their research.

Outside of the classroom Lily turned to James "You will take this project seriously Potter, I want a good grade for potions, since the parchment on the method is individual work we won't need to see each other until the brewing" she swiftly departed leaving James stood confused.

"I was already planning on taking it seriously, I can't believe she would think I would ruin this" he whined to Remus and Sirius, the two boys snickered at their lovelorn friend.

"I'm going to make a start on the essay too, I don't suppose you two would want to join me in the library?" Remus asked.

"Never!" Exclaimed Sirius "We have a reputation to uphold"

Remus rolled his eyes at his friends in mock exasperation before heading up to the library to get a head start on the essay, he was glad he got to work with Sirius and he expected the project was going to be a lot of fun. Remus did feel sorry for Lily though, he wouldn't have minded to be paired up with her instead, to save her from James loved up stupidity, he really did care for the girl but he was hopeless when it came to impressing her.


	7. Secret Studying

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Seven**

 **Authors Note: I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, I would love to hear your opinions :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story they belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.**

 **Mid October 1976**

It was early on Saturday morning, the frost that glistened across the Hogwarts grounds was being slowly melted by the rising sun, Sirius sat alone in the dormitory, an ungodly hour to be awake in Sirius' opinion but since the rest of his roommates had the audacity to be so weird, active and loud this early on the weekend he was woken up. James had convinced Peter to sneak out to Hogsmeade with him to purchase some butterbeers and sweets, and Remus was in the library with Lily, ever since their friendship had been revealed the pair had begun to study together often. Although Remus had been adamant he had no romantic feelings towards Lily there was something going on, something they shared… Sirius shook his head it wasn't his business really but it annoyed him, it was like Lily was stealing their friend. She had her own friends didn't she why didn't she study with them? He already knew the answer to that though, her friends would no doubt be down by the Lake or some other place trying to attract the eyes of the sixth-year boys. Lily had always been a dedicated student though now he thought about it, she was always so focused, often he thought of her as uptight and too serious but Moony was like her in many ways and he had never thought of Moony like that, had he?

Sirius decided he was going around in circles thinking about what Remus and Lily were doing there would only be one way to really find out and James and Peter were currently in possession of the perfect spying tool, the invisibility cloak. Not that he would admit it but Sirius secretly enjoyed studying, he loved to learn new things, when it was lectures by boring professors or writing long essays the studying wasn't much fun, but he loved to read and learn new skills to develop his magic. This morning was perfect for some private studying with the room to himself, he rolled off his bed and landed dramatically on the floor pretending he was an Auror on a mission ducking from hexes, he knew it was childish but it was fun and there was no one to see him, he looked under the bed to find the potions book he had owl ordered from Diagon Alley.

Sirius hadn't told anybody else he was investigating different pain relieving and preventative potions in the hopes of finding something to help Remus, he was hoping to find a way Remus to manage the pain of the transformations better, the way his bones snapped and skin stretched was horrifying, he knew Madame Pomfrey and even Dumbledore himself had tried to help Remus but they had long since given up and on finding a new breakthrough and so Remus had been on the same general medical programme for the past three years. The problem was they hadn't been in the shack and heard the anguish and pain Moony suffered, it was torture for Sirius with his keen canine senses and he had that memory to drive him in his search. He and the Marauders had created brilliant things before, the Marauders Map for example should have been impossible but they had done it, and now he would find something, he had to.

When Professor Slughorn had mentioned they would be looking at advanced potions Sirius had been hopeful for something that could act as inspiration but unfortunately the potions they would be brewing seemed to have no relevance to his personal project. Sirius knew it was dangerous to create potions especially if you didn't have extensive knowledge on the ingredients and the reactions that could occur when the components were brewed together but he would try. Sirius always seemed to have a natural ability for potions, it was he who had brewed the potion the first week to make all the students sing, he didn't flaunt his skills in class though, he would hate to be on Slughorns radar too much, he had heard about the dreaded Slug Club and he would do anything to avoid it.

Remus sat in the library with Lily completing his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, he had fell in love with this lesson from the moment he first stepped into the DADA classroom in first year. At home, he had often felt dangerous, and defenceless all at the same time, to discover this magic that allowed you to protect and defend others was amazing to Remus and he had a natural talent for the spells in the class. Remus had often worried the lycanthropy would taint his magic and make it weaker, yet in class practical's he was always one of the strongest duellers. Lily had always been an average student in DADA but the past two years she had started to excel, her spell repertoire had grown considerably and she had begun to use more inventive spells in her duels, combining her charms skills with defensive spells to trick and defeat her opponents. Remus had once asked her about her increased knowledge and she had just put it down to OWLs revision, he had an idea of the real reason though.

He knew James and Peter had snuck out to Hogsmeade and he wondered what Sirius was currently doing, he had probably fell back to sleep knowing him, Sirius could lie in all afternoon if left to his own devises. Tonight, James was hosting a mini party in the Gryffindor common room to congratulate all the players who had made the Quidditch team. Remus had gotten out of Hogsmeade duty by promising James he would whip up some fireworks at the end of the night. His plan was to fire them from their dormitory out the window so they burst into life next to the common room windows for all the students to see, he had decided to not inform Lily of the plans that would be occurring later that night to spare James the day long lecture, although James might of appreciated it, Lily hadn't spoken to him since she had been paired with him for the potions project, Remus was excited and had been sneaking out the past couple of nights using the cloak and map to practice his fireworks, they were going to be fantastic.

"You ready to head up for lunch Remus?"

"Yeah sure I'll just pack my things away" With a swish of his wand his parchment, quill and books were organised back in his bag.

"The only essay I have left to write is my transfiguration, you have much left?"

"I only have ancient runes left, there is one passage I have been trying to wrap my head around for the past couple days, it isn't due until next Thursday though"

"I can try and help you if like, later tonight in the common room?" Lily offered.

It seems Remus plan to not tell Lily had just fallen through "Erm well actually I'm going to be busy tonight?"

"Oh, what with if you don't me asking?" she politely enquired.

"Not at all Lily, well the thing is James and Sirius organised a little celebration in the common room tonight for the Quidditch team" he answered slightly apprehensively.

"That's nice of him I suppose, it's a shame to disrupt people working but I suppose it is a Saturday"

To say Remus was surprised would be an understatement, Lily had never approved of James' parties, she always berated him for too being loud and disturbing the sleeping younger students or told him he was attention seeking and just trying to fuel his popularity.

"You can close your mouth Remus, I believe people deserve a celebration now and again and as a prefect I think it's good for our house to celebrate achievements and the team players did put in a lot of effort with the try outs, even I have to admit James did a good job with the team"

Remus smiled at Lily, even if James' constant pestering caused her to get annoyed often she was proud of her house and did her best to support and help her fellow students.

Later that night the party in Gryffindor tower was in full swing Professor McGonagall had popped in to congratulate the new team herself and reminded the students to be in bed at a reasonable hour however it lacked her usual sternness, everybody knew the Head of Gryffindor house had immeasurable team spirit. Tables were pushed together laden with Butterbeer, Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and many other treats from Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts kitchens. James introduced the team rather dramatically using a sonorous and the entire house had cheered, as the party progressed Remus and Lily with the other prefects herded the younger students up to bed despite their many protests.

Remus made his way up to the dormitory it was nearly time for the fireworks, the night had been great and the students were tiring out from all the fun, Remus opened the window and sat on the ledge waiting for the signal.

James once again cast sonorous "I want to thank you all for celebrating with us tonight I want to say a final congratulations to all the people who tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, I had a great four days flying with you all, I know we will win the Quidditch Cup this year, not only because of the great team we have but from the massive support from all of you" He paused as the students clapped, whooped, and whistled "Now if I can divert your attentions to the windows please, we have one final show for you before we bid you goodnight" The students rushed to the windows all trying to peer through at once.

James then realised their mistake the windows weren't big enough for everyone to see, he panicked and looked at Sirius he looked equally as stumped and shook his head "Damn" James muttered to himself. Then suddenly the windows began extending taking up the entire side of the tower, giving the students a full-size view of the dark night outside the windows. Just off to the side Lily pocketed her wand smiling to herself, James thanked Merlin for his luck then he cast the spell that would trigger the alarm within the boy's dorm.

The soft tinkling alarm alerted Remus then he began to cast the complex incantations to form the fireworks. It began as streams of red and gold light swirling around each other the swirls then burst outwards, falling like glittering stars. From within the burst of light a giant golden lion sprang forth, it roared then bounded alongside the outer tower wall, the lion leaped up high and exploded the rays of light grouped together into a bright ball of golden light before exploding once again forming the words congratulations across the sky. Remus finished his wand movements sending forth many streams of light illuminating the night sky in numerous coloured explosions.

The students in the common room stood wide eyed in awe at the amazing fireworks display just outside the tower, it was a beautiful sight, the lion had even earned a few surprised yelps when it first burst into view rushing towards the students.

Once the bright explosions finally faded, Sirius darted up the stairs, he entered the common to see Moony shutting the window "Merlin Remus! You didn't tell us it was going to be that big, that was amazing!"

Remus grinned at Sirius "Thank you, but honestly I had to practice the incantation tons for tonight"

Sirius flung his arm around Remus' shoulder "Well your studious ways have paid off once again my friend"

"We can't all be naturally talented like you, you big dog" Remus said playfully shoving Sirius off "Right I want to have a shower and get to bed, I need to work on my ancient runes tomorrow"

"Okay my fair maiden I shall leave you to your beauty sleep" Sirius bowed as he exited narrowly missing the pillow launched at his head by Remus.

Sirius made his way back down to the common room, Peter was packing away the last of the food no doubt for himself, and James was stood talking to the Gryffindor seeker, the windows were slowly shrinking back to size, Sirius quickly glanced around the room for any signs of an active wand, he quickly spotted the caster and made his way over to Frank Longbottom a seventh year "Nice spell work back there mate you saved our asses"

"What are you on about Sirius?" Frank asked confused.

"Enlarging the windows, I got to admit that was quick thinking, I have no idea how you managed something that complex so quickly I didn't think it would be possible to alter the castle itself like that"

"It wasn't me, I don't know any spells that could manage to transform the walls like that so quickly"

"But I've just seen you with your wand out reversing the spell"

"I was just trying to discreetly scourgify my shirt, I spilled some butterbeer down it and Alice is over there I wanted to tidy myself up before she notices, she'd have a right good laugh at me if I didn't"

"So, who was it then?"

"Sorry I have no idea, I'm going to go say goodnight to Alice anyways" Frank bid Sirius goodbye before striding over to his girlfriend.

Sirius looked around confused, who had performed the spell then he wondered, it certainly wasn't James he had looked absolutely clueless as the windows had altered, whoever it was they had saved the fireworks show that was for sure.


	8. The Castle

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Eight**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to the amazing J. K. Rowling.**

 **Mid October 1976**

Remus awoke early on Sunday to meet Lily to do his ancient runes work, James and Peter were awake too and the two boys told Remus about the student's reactions to the fireworks the previous night as they made their way down to the great hall for breakfast. Sirius was of course still asleep, Remus was sure it would take a stampede through the room to awaken that boy sometimes.

"So, you have no clue who altered the windows?" Remus asked James.

"Nope, I wish I did though, honestly Moony how could we forget about the walls being in the way" James laughed.

Peter was too busy eating to contribute to the conversation, although that wasn't anything different than usual. Once they were finished Remus excused himself and walked over to Lily, her friends suddenly became silent as he approached watching him intently, he felt rather awkward under their stare, did he have something on his face? A stray bean from breakfast perhaps? He wiped his face with the sleeve of his robe feeling rather self-conscious, the girls however were still looking at him expectantly.

He cleared his throat "Hey Lily you ready to go study ancient runes?"

"Yes, shall we go to the library?"

"That's fine with me I'll just have to run up to the dormitory for my bag, shall I meet you there?

"Sure" she smiled standing up collecting her own things, and bid her friends goodbye.

"Have fun Lily" Marlene called out waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Remus looked at Lily confused at the interaction and was met with an exasperated eye roll, she gently pushed him away from her friends towards the exit of the great hall, across at the Slytherin table a boy with long dark hair and sickly pale skin scowled at the retreating friends. Once they parted ways, Remus quickly arrived at the common room making use of his knowledge of secret passages, he entered the dormitory to collect his work much to his surprise he found Sirius was wide-awake, and looking rather flustered.

"Hey Pads, what are you doing up, are you all right?" Remus asked concerned about his friend.

"Erm I'm just doing potions work, I'm fine"

"You still haven't finished Professor Slughorns essay? I thought you and James had finished it the other night?"

"We did" Sirius spoke without thinking.

"So, what is it you are working on then?" Remus asked intrigued.

"I can't tell you it's private"

Remus' interested expression suddenly dropped to one of misunderstanding "Oh well that's okay, I'll just leave you to it, I was only collecting my ancient rune work" Remus rushed, leaving the room promptly after picking up his bag.

Sirius sat down on his bed and sighed feeling guilty, he had noticed the confused look on Moonys face, it was only a couple of weeks ago he had berated Remus for keeping secrets. He knew Remus wouldn't question him though he was much too reserved for that, he did want to tell him but he hadn't found anything useful yet and he didn't want to give Remus false hope, and now when he was only trying to do something nice for Remus it just seemed like he was keeping things from him. Damn it, why didn't he just say he wanted to add a bit to his essay for Slughorn, this is exactly why I shouldn't get up early he thought bitterly my brain just doesn't switch on quick enough.

Remus pondered what potions Sirius could be working on as he made his way down to the library, if it was for a prank he would have surely just said so even if he wanted to keep it a surprise it was obviously something else, something personal. Remus thought he and Sirius were best friends and after five years of telling each other practically everything he didn't see why he would keep something potions related secret, unless it was something dangerous? Now Remus was just worried, he also felt hurt that Sirius didn't trust him enough to tell him, I bet James knows. He pushed it away as he entered the library looking for Lily, her orange hair was like a beacon and he made his way to her table taking a seat.

"So, I heard something rather amazing happened to the windows in the common room last night you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"I do recall that, there were some amazing fireworks outside the tower last night you know, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" She countered with a grin.

"Well I may remember something about firework incantations if a certain someone would like to share their trick of enlarging windows, which I may add should be impossible on an enchanted castle"

"Well it looks like I may have to tell you my secret then Remus, but first how did you know it was me?"

"Who else could it have been?" Remus answered causing a dazzling smile to break out on Lily's face.

Remus proceeded to explain to Lily about the incantations, which she made Remus promise to show her properly soon, Remus had no doubt she would pick it up much quicker than he as she was very skilled with charm work. "Right I've told you all I know, so spill about those windows"

"Before I tell you I must remind you I am not crazy" She paused, continuing only once Remus nodded at her. "Well the castle is alive? No that's not the right word, its sentient, and I can sometimes communicate with it, I found out one day when I was late for class and I was wishing for the stair case to appear and suddenly it was just there, I thought nothing of it at first but then I noticed other little things. So, last night I performed a transfiguration spell whilst also wishing and willing the wall to change, and I guess the castle listened"

"That doesn't sound crazy at all, that sounds beautiful" Remus recalled James telling him something similar when they created the Marauders map, Remus and Sirius had tried to complete the final stages of the map but it repeatedly failed and the map was just like a plain muggle map, it was James who had finished it, and he had told them he had wished for the castle to be mapped and it was as if the castle had given James permission allowing the spell to be completed. Lily and Remus spent much of the morning and afternoon in the library, discussing ancient runes, fireworks, and the mysteries of the castle.

Meanwhile James and Peter were walking along a seventh-floor corridor looking fixedly at a map.

" I'm sure something is wrong with the map" James huffed.

"I don't see anything?"

"Peter its obvious there's a huge gap here the map is missing a bloody room"

The boys made their way down the corridor near the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, James scrutinized the map and then the wall repeatedly before sighing excessively loudly "I just don't understand there's no door, no statue as an entrance, it's as if there's just a solid block of wall, but that doesn't make any sense"

James began to pace up and down the corridor looking at the bricks on the wall for any indication of a secret entrance, Peter hurriedly followed him, after some time a door suddenly appeared and James jumped back in shock "Wormtail! A door! Merlin a door! Let's check it out" James yanked open the door to be faced with a bathroom "Hidden toilets?!"

Peter rushed passed James "Sorry Prongs I got to go" A door was promptly slammed shut in James' face as Peter hurried inside.

James sat down and leaned his back against the wall thinking about the sudden appearance of the hidden toilet, it still didn't make sense the area missing on the map was significantly bigger than the room the toilet would take up.

It wasn't until later that night that all the Marauders were together, Sirius, Peter and James sat and discussed their Halloween prank plans as they waited for Remus to return from his seemingly never-ending studying. Once he entered the room James excitedly informed Sirius and Remus about the mystery toilet which had appeared earlier that day.

Sirius scoffed "You are excited about a toilet?"

"I must admit it's curious, but it is only a toilet, I am surprised none of us noticed the anomaly on the map before now though" Remus responded.

"Guys please you have to come see it, it just doesn't make any sense" James pleaded.

"Seriously Prongs I don't want to walk all the way there"

"Well as your quidditch captain Sirius I think you need the exercise"

"Oi!" Sirius jumped on James dragging him to the ground "I do not need any extra exercise I look great I'll have you know"

Remus and Peter laughed as they watched the boys rolling around the floor "Come on let's just go visit this toilet so we can go to bed" Remus managed to get out between his laughter.

Soon the boys were stood staring at the solid wall of the seventh-floor corridor "Well there's no door, nice one Prongs" Sirius moaned.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, I already told you the door appeared out of nowhere last time" James quickly responded,

"Right so what were you doing last time it appeared?" Remus decided since they were here, to be logical about the situation, they had to determine the factor which causes the room to appear.

"Well we were just walking back and forth looking at the bricks"

"I wasn't" Peter spoke up "I was actually praying for a toilet to appear, I drank way too much pumpkin juice at lunch"

"Too much information Wormtail" Sirius shuddered.

"Sorry" He squeaked.

"Hmm so the room appeared as you wished for it, I wonder" Remus paused thinking before he began to stride back and forth in front of the wall, suddenly a door appeared.

"A door!" James exclaimed.

"Brilliant Moony you're a genius" Sirius beamed at him.

Remus stepped forward and opened the door, the boys stepped through, inside the room was squishy chairs a roaring fire, the walls were a rich burgundy colour and the seating had beautiful golden accents"

"It's not a toilet?" Peter asked in confusion.

"No, the room became what I required" Remus answered, "I realised that you had been asking for a toilet and the castle provided you with it, I instead asked for a comfortable place to sit down and relax, the castle listened to our requests and granted them for us"

"That's a perfect name for it" Spoke Sirius. Remus raised his eyebrows in question "The room of requirement" Sirius responded to the look, without fail he could always read Remus' facial expressions.

"That does sound good" James agreed, Peter also nodded along to this.

"I wonder what else it could change into" Remus pondered "Maybe a study room"

"Why when we have a room with possibly endless opportunities to you still think about studies" Sirius laughed nudging Remus playfully.

For many hours, the boys took turns to request rooms, by the time Remus had herded them back to Gryffindor tower for sleep before tomorrow's lessons, they had discovered the room could turn into pretty much anything you requested, although if you weren't specific it could vary slightly from your intended request, also food couldn't be created by the room, besides that the room was seemingly magically powerful enough to complete any requirement.

Remus had pondered the room of requirement some more as he laid in bed trying to sleep, a smile suddenly began to grow across his face, this is it he thought to himself the ultimate Halloween prank, he couldn't wait until the morning to tell his fellow Marauders.


	9. Remus' Idea

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Nine**

 **Authors Note: Finally, I will be posting again, sorry for the long break, now university is done for the summer I should be able to post regularly.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.**

 **Mid October 1976**

Monday mornings always guaranteed one thing in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and that was mayhem in the Marauders dormitory. Dirty clothes were thrown across the room, meltdowns over hair could be heard, someone would always wake up late and someone would probably be missing a shoe. Remus sat on his bed and chuckled at the complete madness unfolding in front of him, he cast tempus in the middle of the room which only caused James' wails to grow louder.

Once they finally made it down to the hall fully clothed with shoes on each foot there wasn't long left of breakfast, Remus was bursting with excitement to tell his friends about his idea unfortunately people constantly surrounded them, it would just have to wait. They wolfed down their food and left to try make it to lessons on time, the first lesson of the day was Transfiguration and a scolding from Professor McGonagall was never pleasant.

"Settle down" The professors voice quickly silenced the incoming students, with a flick of her wand the door shut behind the last student once everyone was seated the lesson began "Today we will be looking further into our topic of human transfiguration, specifically how to transform the colour and style of hair, now can anybody tell me some professional applications of such a spell"

Multiple hands shot up, Minerva selected Marlene first "Hairdressing Professor?"

"Yes, that is a perfect example thank you Miss McKinnon" She scanned the room and then selected Lily "Miss Evans?"

"When being an Auror" Sirius snorted at her answer, Lily shot him a glare before continuing "Part of Auror training is concealment and disguise, if you are able to swiftly and effectively change your hair it could act as a quick disguise"

"Excellent Miss Evans' can you also tell me the incantation to perform such a transfiguration?"

"Crinus Muto"

"Wonderful, five points to Gryffindor"

McGonagall continued with her lecture explaining the pronunciation, wand movement and theory behind the spell, it didn't take long for James to realise he had fell victim to this very spell a few weeks ago. It seemed Sirius had also come to the same conclusion as he sniggered at James' look of humiliation. After the theory had been discussed McGonagall allowed the students to begin casting, Lily of course was able to change her hair on her first go and transformed it to a shocking azure colour that reached the floor in shiny waves, which caused her friends to stop their own casting to admire her hair. The marauders unfortunately were having more difficulty, after a few attempts Remus could change his eyebrows gold, however the rest of the boys couldn't even change a single arm hair a different colour.

"I don't get it" Sirius whined "Considering _what we can do_ how is this so hard?"

"I told you this type of transfiguration is different, _other types_ rely on what's within you whereas this is about visual intent the way the incantation is powered is completely different maybe if you had read over the topic you would know that" Remus huffed out before turning back to his mirror and changing his eyebrows to a different colour.

James and Sirius looked at each other moodily before accepting defeat and pulling their books from their bags to read the chapter on Crinus Muto, meanwhile Peter had somehow managed to transfigure the desk to sprout hairs causing an uproar in the classroom, a flustered McGonagall soon rectified the desk whilst scolding Peter on his wand movements and aim.

After a busy day of lessons the boys finally made it back to their dormitory, when Remus entered the room Sirius and James were heatedly discussing Quidditch tactics for the upcoming match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. He cleared his throat to gain their attention, they could talk easily for hours on end about tactics if they weren't interrupted, they turned to Remus with expectant expressions.

"I have come up with the ultimate Halloween prank" this declaration was met with three grinning faces. "We use the room of requirement to set up a haunted house and then invite all the older students, I was thinking at the end of the haunted house there could be a dance hall for a Halloween party, what do you guys think?"

Instead of looks of excitement which Remus had expected he was met with confusion, the silence stretched and Remus began to feel rather awkward maybe his idea wasn't as good as he had thought…

"Haunted house?" James asked with confusion.

"What's a haunted house?" Sirius continued from James.

"Come on you guys you know what a haunted house is, the places where you walk through and are scared by people in masks jumping out?" Remus responded.

"Sorry you lost me with this one Moony" Sirius answered with confusion still etched across his features.

What followed was a very long and tedious conversation explaining haunted houses and other muggle Halloween traditions, the number of things different between the wizarding and muggle world amazed Remus, having connections with both he had never realised the extent of the differences until Sirius point blank refused to accept that muggles portrayed witches as green and warty.

"I mean my great Aunt Cassiopeia had a huge wart on her chin but I think she's an exception Remus you must be wrong" this resulted in minutes' worth of laughter from the rest of the boys.

Eventually everyone seemed to grasp the concept of a haunted house and were eager to spook their friends "Muggles honestly have such good ideas" James cackled with a rather menacing glint in his eyes. The boys spoke late into the night deciding how they could charm and transfigure scary ghouls and monsters to pop out of their haunted house.

The rest of the week was busy, with Quidditch practice for James and Sirius, prefect rounds for Remus, many trips to the kitchens for Peter, research for their Halloween prank and the approaching moon tiring out all the boys, they also were due to start their practical potions lesson the following week so Remus encouraged the boys to read over the relevant chapters in what should have been a free period much to James and Sirius' horror. The marauders could be seen talking in hushed tones wherever they were spotted, a clear sign to the rest of the school that something mischievous was approaching.

Once the weekend finally arrived most of the marauders decided to have a well-deserved lie in, all except James who woke up early Saturday morning to go flying. Despite his confident facade he was worried about the upcoming match, he had faith in his team but as captain he was nervous about letting his team and house down. Flying always seemed to clear his head though, he walked across the grounds towards the forest just as the sun was beginning to rise, he wanted to fly but not on the quidditch pitch that would only make his nerves worse.

James was not expecting to see anyone else awake this early on a Saturday so it came as quite a surprise when somebody else was in the air on a broom.


	10. Witches and Broomsticks

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Ten**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.**

 **Late October 1976**

When Lily was young her knowledge of magic came from fairy tales and books read to her by her parents, that was until she met Severus, a quiet and odd-looking boy with pale skin and dark hair. Lily had noticed the lonely and sad looking boy many times when she was playing with her sister Petunia and had approached him to make friends, their friendship grew for a couple of years before Lily had a burst of accidental magic around him. She could still remember his happiness upon finding out she was a witch it was then that he told her all about magic and Hogwarts. Her friendship with Severus was so simple then and they had believed nothing would split them apart, Severus had told her about the Hogwarts houses, Quidditch and spells, knowledge he had gained from his mother's stories about attending school. Flying had sounded amazing to Lily and when she had found out it was on brooms like the witches in her stories she couldn't wait to try. The two friends would sneak out in first year to the broom shed and take school brooms to the far side of the lake near the Forbidden Forest and he would teach her to fly, they were still young and such good friends however the years since then, and house rivalries had pushed a significant wedge between them.

Lily was flying high above the trees on Saturday morning the sun rising slowly in the distance, she never flew anymore it seemed lonely without Severus he always listened and understood when she talked about Petunia he had been there when her sister would lash out at her and shame her for her magical abilities. It wasn't like when they were children though was it? The increasing terror engulfing the wizarding world ensured that.

One person she could talk to though was Remus, although he had been rather busy this week and she had only seen him during their prefect rounds together, she was sure she had spotted Sirius in the library the other day which only heightened her suspicions, the four boys were planning something. The marauders were far from her mind though as she flew that morning, flying would bring her so much joy but now it only reminded her of the changes in her life, Petunia had abandoned her finally cutting her remaining ties and Severus was always with those cruel Slytherins. Why had she even come out here she questioned, that urge to fly had been so strong when she woke up feeling suffocated in the castle but now up in the air she felt lost. All this hatred was so pointless why couldn't things be simple as they had been frustrated she quickly dove towards the ground, flipping at the last second and pulling up before she crashed. The exhilaration she should feel from such a daring move was non-existent, this wasn't helping and she really ought to get back before her friends woke up her decision made she headed back towards the broom shed to replace the tattered school broom.

James stood gobsmacked, who the hell was that?! He began to panic he knew that was not one of his Gryffindor players was it someone on another team, if that was the competition he was in for trouble he had never witnessed someone pull of a dive that risky, well at least not someone who wasn't a professional Quidditch player. He watched as the mysterious student flew off over the lake, squinting his eyes against the rising sun trying to figure out who it was, his plans for a fly far from his mind he quickly ran back to the castle.

Sirius was jolted awake by a pale faced James shaking him rather violently "Padfoot wake up, PADFOOT COME ON!"

"I'm awake stop shouting" he croaked out looking across the room he could see Remus poking his head out between his curtains his eyes looked foggy with sleep he quirked an eyebrow up questioningly and Sirius shook his head confused at what was happening.

"Padfoot, the dive, Merlin the dive, we can't beat that, what are we going to do?"

Sirius was confused to say the least "What dive?"

"The person on the broom!" James answered shrilly.

"Moony I'm afraid James has finally lost it" Remus chuckled at Sirius' comment.

"Listen to me, I went out this morning to fly I saw another team's seeker practicing, their dive is another level I've never seen a student feint like that, I have no idea who it was, our seeker cannot match that we need to do something NOW!"

Remus emerged from the bathroom dressed and Sirius caught his eye "Oh no you don't Moony, don't leave me with him"

"You are on the Quidditch team Padfoot I'm sorry I can't help I'm afraid" Remus' laugh could be heard as he made a quick getaway out of the door with Peter.

James was looking at Sirius expectantly "Right then Prongs it looks like we have tactics to discuss"

Many hours later Remus deemed it safe for him and Peter to return to the dormitory the two marauders spent the day writing a list of food and drinks they would need for the party, which Peter happily helped Remus create. The previous week they had trawled through massive tomes from the library perfecting their charm and transfiguration work for the night of the haunted house and now only a few days before Halloween they only needed to organise the smaller details.

Sunday was the night of the full moon so Remus fortunately had time to rest for a couple of days before the big night his lycanthropy caused him to have physical and magical exhaustion, although Madame Pomfrey's potions worked wonders he was still left unable to perform up to his usual standards as the transformation left Remus sore and sluggish.

"Finally, you have returned to save me" Sirius proclaimed dramatically throwing himself into Remus' arms, Remus attempted to shrug Sirius off but Sirius only clung tighter "You don't understand the horror of being trapped with him all day come my saviour take me away" Sirius playfully grabbed Remus' hand pulling him out of the dormitory, James and Peter laughed wildly at Sirius' display.

Sirius didn't realise he was still holding Remus' hand until he had dragged him through the common room and out into the corridor and he probably wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for Remus clearing his throat. "Sorry" Sirius grinned "Right let's go" Sirius then continued to walk away.

Remus quickly caught up "And where may I ask are we going?"

"To the kitchens I deserve a treat for putting up with James' dramatics today"

"He's not so bad you know he just wants to make everybody proud"

"I know but the team has been performing brilliantly in practice, he's worrying for nothing it will be fine, no seeker is going to be able to dodge bludgers sent from Gryffindor beaters" Sirius smirked, earning a chuckle from Remus.

Remus was glad Sirius wanted him to go with him after he had been secretive about the potions work Remus had begun to doubt their friendship slightly, with Quidditch practice, prefect rounds and the extra homework piled on since they had begun their NEWTs it seemed like he and Sirius never spent much time together anymore. Remus knew he was overthinking yet sometimes he couldn't stop his brain from its doubts.

Once they had arrived at the kitchens Sirius' face grew serious "So how are you feeling for the moon?"

"Oh, fine, it should be all right"

"Moony?"

"Well I have been feeling a bit stressed this week, the wolf seems anxious and I'm worried how it will be"

"Something on your mind?" Sirius pushed.

"No, nothing I think with NEWTs and all the planning I've just been overworking myself"

"Well for one thing NEWTs aren't till next year, the haunted house is going to be amazing and you don't need to worry us three will be there with you, so sit down you handsome wolf and enjoy some chocolate cake" Sirius winked at the end.

Remus smiled widely, before adding "The exams may be next year but we still have assignments"

"MOONY STOP!" Sirius playfully complained.


	11. Frolics in The Forbidden Forest

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Eleven**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.**

 **Late October 1976**

Remus stood alone in the cold empty room, wind whirled outside causing the house to creak and groan, he calmly removed his clothes and tucked them under a loose floorboard, it wouldn't be long now, he breathed deeply preparing himself only shivering slightly.

The moon emerged from behind the clouds shining through the dusty window, a gut wrenching scream pierced the dark lonely night and Remus dropped to his knees shuddering, he had never been under the effects of the Cruiciatus curse, fortunately, but if he had to guess he would imagine this is how it would feel. His very bones were on fire as they cracked, elongating and dislocating. His skin became taut over his body, as if it would tear open, his neatly trimmed fingernails curved into monstrous claws, the screams slowly distorted to anguish filled howls. This monthly trip is what earned the shrieking shack its name, the howling eventually subsided, leaving a werewolf on the floor panting rapidly.

Not too far away hidden in a tunnel was a stag, a dog and a rat, the dog lay low to the ground whining sadly, his canine senses alert to the pain of his friend in the house above. The boys had arrived in the tunnel under the whomping willow shortly before the moonrise, opening the hatch to the house above before promptly transforming to wait for their furry friend, they had learned from past transformations that it was better to let Moony come to them instead of entering up into the house, as the wolf seemed to feel threatened and would lash out aggressively when it awoke, it was best to allow Moony time to adjust.

The wolf above soon became alert sitting up stretching its sore limbs, the dust in the room was harsh on the wolfs sensitive nose, sniffing the air curiously, it cocked its head to the side 'pack' not a word spoken but a feeling inside the wolfs head, with that it bounded downstairs towards its animal friends, its pack. The other Marauders began to run as a loud pounding sound indicated Moony's approach, directing him towards the forbidden forest, it didn't take long for the wolf to catch up to the animals, not much could outrun a werewolf. Eventually the group made it to a clearing within the forest and the stag and dog came to a stop exhausted from the continuous pursuit, Wormtail clung to Prongs' antlers with a vice like grip for fear of falling. The boys would be safe in the clearing, the other creatures and beasts of the forest avoided werewolves, even the darkest entities living in the forest were wary to cross paths with a wolf on the night of the full moon.

The wolf took this opportunity to approach his pack to acknowledge them properly, when Moony approached Padfoot he stopped to stare at the black shaggy dog, the dog yipped playfully bouncing slightly but Moony just growled lowly in response. Prongs looked alarmed, instinctually Padfoot laid down low to the ground, although Sirius was still conscious and aware in his Animagus form the natural instincts of the canine would sometimes take over. Moony seemed to ponder this move, he came closer inhaling the canines scent, he growled again deeper this time his amber eyes flashing dangerously, Sirius was now panicking, what was he supposed to do, Moony came closer baring his teeth, pure panic washed over Sirius. Bending his face towards Padfoot Moony lightly bit the dogs neck, not enough to pierce the skin, it was almost as if he was showing that he could tear his throat open if he so wished, then suddenly he shot up bouncing, the usual playful attitude returning. That was unnerving Sirius thought gulping before jumping up to run around the clearing spiritedly with the wolf.

It was many hours later when the moon had begun its descent from the sky that the wolf became anxious and violent, the threat of its human prison imminent it began to lash out clawing at its chest howling with rage, the stag and canine tried to distract and prevent this rather unsuccessfully, taking longer than normal meaning Moony was littered with numerous bloody claw marks.

The first thing Remus realized was that his chest ached, badly. Then he noticed the cold biting at his fingers and toes, with a lot of effort he sat up, quickly retrieving his cloak and clothes from the loose floorboard, he dressed then made the slow descent downstairs to wait for Madam Pomfrey wincing as pain spread across his bloodied torso. It wasn't long before she arrived fussing over Remus providing a steady arm to help him back to the Hospital Wing. Sinking into a soft bed he quickly succumbed to his tiredness falling to sleep as healing balm was applied to his chest, when he awoke it was to the soft chatter of his fellow Marauders, noticing he was awake James smiled wildly handing Remus a chocolate frog, he gratefully accepted the proffered treat. James then took it upon himself to inform Remus of the previous night's activities, the three boys had already applied privacy charms before Remus had awoken so there was no risk of anyone overhearing the conversation. When James finally mentioned Moony's interest in Padfoot Remus' brows furrowed in confusion "I'm sorry if I scared you Sirius" Remus sighed sadly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm guessing the big bad wolf just wanted to assert his dominance" Sirius answered with a wink.

"Right well we best be off lunch is almost finished, we will catch you later Remus" James stood to leave, Peter shot Remus a sympathetic smile and Sirius grinned adding "Try not to miss us too much"

"I'll try" Remus laughed whilst rolling his eyes.

Once his friends left he pondered over what James had told him, it sounded threatening to him he would never want to hurt Sirius and would certainly never forgive himself if he hurt someone or inflicted this curse upon them. He decided he would have to research this in the library he couldn't risk asking somebody about the behaviour, as they might figure out he has company on his night time adventures. If anyone discovered that he left the shack in his werewolf form he would not only be expelled but possibly sent to Azkaban. Remus had recently been reading about new legislation from the Ministry clamping down on the werewolf community further, by some woman called Dolores Umbridge, the fact is by knowingly leaving the shack he was risking Wizards and Witches life's, something the Ministry would not be accepting of. From what he had read in the Prophet that Madam Umbridge wouldn't be satisfied until his kind were locked up in cages like the animals they supposedly were.

He decided to try and push his concerns to the back of his mind, knowing plenty of rest would be needed as it was nearly time to execute their Halloween madness upon Hogwarts, Remus settled back down into the infirmary bed closing his eyes drifting off into a dreamless sleep.


	12. The Infamous Marauders Halloween

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Twelve**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling the magnificent.**

 **Halloween 1976**

Halloween was finally upon the sixth-year pranksters, for once all the boys were willingly up early, they only had limited time to set up as they planned to throw their party after the Halloween feast, they would secretly release the details throughout the day in hopes of not attracting attention from the teachers, Remus had an extra afternoon class so the other three would be starting the set up earlier with Remus joining them later. Their early morning was necessary to transport transfigured decorations in secret to the Room of Requirement, the Marauders had spent many late nights transfiguring all manner of items into decorations for their haunted house extravaganza.

They would be working to a schedule, ensuring one of them was in the room at all times so their progress wasn't lost, Remus was the one selected to call forth the room, once the door materialized the four boys rushed in directing their levitating decorations behind them.

"Wow" James exclaimed in awe, the entrance into the room was a creepy long stonework passage with dark recesses, the boys followed the passage around until they emerged into a large hall, inside the hall were tables and chairs arranged neatly on the side of the dancefloor.

"This is looking eerie already" Peter added.

It had been agreed Peter would be staying in the room first as he didn't start lessons until later that day, the boys had promised to bring him food from breakfast before they headed off to Potions, Sirius and James then planned to hex boils onto one another to be able to skip class faking going to Madam Pomfrey when in fact Sirius had brewed a strong Furuncles Potion the night before to counter the hex. Remus hadn't approved of this part of the plan but agreed with the time frame they had set it would make things much easier.

By the time Halloween feast came around the boys were exhausted, Remus had agreed to stay in the room, whilst the boys made an appearance at the great hall, there was an excited buzz of chatter between the older students, James and Sirius had dropped hints of a party tonight on the Seventh-floor encouraging people to dress up. Short notice for fancy dress simply didn't exist in the wizarding world where you could transfigure clothes into anything your imagination wanted. The feast seemed to drag as anticipation for the Marauders party increased, some students, such as the Ravenclaws were sceptical on the Marauders intentions as a Halloween prank had not yet occurred, however only an idiot would turn down going to a secret party in Hogwarts so they dismissed their doubts.

After the feast Sirius, James and Peter hurried up to the room, when they arrived they found Remus putting the final touches to their buffet table, there were some surprise treats that once eaten would cause peoples skins to change colour or cause people to sprout horns or fangs. Which brought the boys much amusement when they were testing them prior to Halloween. Remus was already in his costume which was a vampire, which he found quite ironic due to the natural hatred between werewolves and vampires. The rest quickly got changed, James dressed as the giant squid, Sirius decided to dress up as a bright orange pumpkin and Peter was wrapped up in numerous bandages as a mummy.

The first group to arrive on the seventh-floor corridor were a group of sixth and seventh year Gryffindor's, confusion began to spread as they realised they had been guided to an empty corridor void of doors, suddenly a large oak door materialized on the wall earning a few gasps. James and Sirius strode through the door, laughter at their costumes rippled through the crowd.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, tonight is the night" James paused dramatically, silence descended as everyone eagerly awaited the next words.

"For the infamous marauders Halloween" Finished Sirius.

As the boys began their dramatic introduction students from other houses began to join the crowd.

"A warning dear friends for you must beware"

"Behind this door you may just get a scare"

"To get to the party you must face your fears"

"Take this creepy pathway with your peers"

"So, take on this challenge the haunted trail awaits you"

"The party is waiting, please come on through" As Sirius said these last words James flung open the door his tentacles flapping wildly as he spun to face the students, presenting them a shadowy corridor.

Frank Longbottom and his friends were the first to enter, followed swiftly by other Gryffindor's, Sirius and James hung back to follow in the last of the students, as the door would fade once they shut it.

Lily had stood throughout the speech rolling her eyes them boys sure knew how to lay it on thick, she couldn't believe she had agreed to come to this but her roommates Dorcas, Marlene and Alice would simply not listen to her when she said she wanted to stay in to practice some new charms. So here she was stood in her transfigured costume, she had to admit if only to herself, it was fun to dress up on Halloween it reminded her of going trick or treating as a child with Petunia. Tonight, Lily had decided to dress up as a witch, a muggle version, green skin, warts, and all.

Soon her group was faced with the entrance to corridor, hesitantly she stepped through as they did so a blanket of fog shrouded the doorway "No turning back now" Marlene giggled.

Green ooze dripped down the walls and cobwebs littered the ceiling as they walked through the girls could see dark alcoves along the walls, Dorcas looked nervous as they approached, suddenly a ghoul burst headfirst at the girls causing them to screech as they ran further forward.

"Merlin! Only those silly boys would make getting to a Halloween party so creepy" Alice laughed uncertainly.

Dorcas looked just about ready to faint when bats came swooping down at them, eventually they made it to the end of the corridor, after being scared by spiders, ghouls, vampires, bats and numerous other creatures.

Lily gasped as they entered the large dancehall it looked magical, a mixture of pumpkins and candles floated overhead providing a warm glow to the room, on one side of the hall was a long buffet table laden with treats. "I can't believe those four did all of this" She spoke to her friends.

"It's amazing" Marlene agreed.

Remus stood beside Peter watching as the students arrived, many scared faces quickly turned into awe filled ones as they too entered in to the hall, the music from the wizarding wireless played loudly thanks to a variation of the sonorous charm applied to it.

"I think this has worked pretty well" Remus commented.

"It has, I can't wait for people to try the food with the charms on" Peter whispered conspiringly.

The hall was soon filled with people, Sirius and James jogged over to the other boys pulling them towards the small stage.

"Can we please have your attention" Sirius loudly shouted, Remus took his wand lowering the volume of the music.

"Thank you for attending our Halloween party, we hope you didn't get too much of a fright on your way here" James chuckled.

"We have many treats in store for you fine ladies and gentlemen tonight, but beware not everything may be as it seems" Sirius warned.

"So be careful as you never know if you will be having a trick or treat"

"Now please enjoy" As Sirius finished, the boys all bowed low, Remus discreetly flicked his wand turning the music back up high.

Hours later many students were sporting extra horns, fangs, claws and in some cases spiky tails dancing wildly to the music aided by the smuggled in Firewhiskey, some people were also rather drenched after playing bob for potatoes. It was meant to be bobbing for apples however Sirius had arrived with potatoes claiming they were similar enough as they had used the last of the apples for toffee coated ones.

James had tried to coerce Lily into dances many times that night, instead of her hexes at his bad attempts of wooing her she had just skipped away dancing with her friends, much to James' disappointment. All the four Marauders were now rather drunk, the punchbowl had far too much alcohol in and Remus was dreading how painful his head would surely feel in the morning.

Sirius sidled up to Remus swaying slightly "Fancy a dance Dracula?"

"Sure, you bloody pumpkin" As soon as the word left his mouth Sirius grabbed his hands and span him wildly onto the dancefloor.

Both boys were laughing hysterically as they danced around the room to a fast-paced tune, the track ended and a slower paced song came on, they looked at each other awkwardly before releasing their hands and stepping apart, around them drunken couples danced to the music.

Remus didn't quite understand why he felt so awkward as the slower tune had come on, they were only dancing jokingly, his head felt rather fuzzy due to all the alcohol he had consumed, probably not his wisest idea as a prefect. He looked over to Sirius who had gone to talk James, they looked a right pair the pumpkin and the squid. Two seventh year Hufflepuff girls approached them and soon they were out on the dancefloor, Remus felt a slight jealously at this however he was uncertain why.

It was rather late and time for the party to come to an end, the Marauders had one last trick up their sleeves, the music came to a stop, the floating pumpkins dropped lower in the air and people looked around confused suddenly the pumpkins burst drenching everyone in a gloopy orange slime. Many of the girls in the room looked furious whilst most the boys began laughing, Lily quickly whispered to her friends and the girls rushed to the food table grabbing cauldron cakes and jelly slugs throwing them at the Marauders, causing a large food fight to break out. Many cleaning and vanishing charms had to be performed before the students could sneak back to their dormitories that night.


	13. Family

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.**

 **Early November 1976**

"Why? Why? Why?" Sirius moaned from beneath his covers, pain wrung through his head, James wrenched his curtains open laughing as he winced from the light "What has you so chipper Prongs?" he spat out, Sirius had by far drank the most out of the Marauders the previous night.

"It's Hogsmeade weekend this weekend"

"Ah, so todays the day you ask Lily out" Remus spoke as he emerged from the bathroom.

"Indeed Moony"

"Give us strength, I don't think I can deal with this today" Sirius yawned dragging himself up, he looked over at Remus flashing him a smile, however instead of an answering grin Moony just turned away. I mustn't be the only one with a monumental hangover he thought to himself.

As soon as the boys made it into the hall for breakfast a stern looking McGonagall began approaching them "Mr Potter, Mr Black I am very disappointed in you both, do you have anything you wish to tell me young men?"

Sirius and James stayed silent both sporting rather guilty faces, she knows about the party Remus thought in a panic, I'm going to lose my prefect badge.

"You went to visit Madam Pomfrey for boils yesterday?" She asked prompting the boys.

"Erm, well… you see the thing is that, erm…" Sirius answered rather ineloquently, his hangover rendering his acting skills useless.

"Well Mr Black that certainly was a very detailed explanation, I shall save you the hassle of concocting a lie, I am aware that you two did not go to the infirmary yesterday as instructed by your professor" James opened his mouth to respond, "I am also aware that you two intentionally skipped your lesson, so tell me where you were"

Silence answered her, McGonagall however did not look surprised at their lack of honesty she sighed "Very well I cannot let this slide, detention it is for both of you, and twenty points from Gryffindor each, I am afraid that this time I will be required to write home to your parents" Sirius visibly paled, from what he had told Remus he was already walking a fine line with his mother after the previous summer. "Your detention will be this Saturday"

"This Saturday?" James asked in disbelief "You _can't_ its Hogsmeade weekend!"

"I am aware Mr Potter and I _can_ , if you have no respect for school rules you will not be allowed to participate in activities deemed a privilege for students, you will be meeting Mr Filch at 10 o'clock Saturday morning in the entrance hall" With that she strode away out of the great hall.

James and Sirius slumped down next to Remus and Peter, James muttered about the injustice of it all. Feeling rather green around the gills Remus decided forgo breakfast instead he looked around the hall many students were sporting hangovers evident by their pale faces and dark bags, the Slytherins however were sneering with pleasure.

The next couple of days James and Sirius were rather subdued, James due to his missed opportunity to ask out Lily and Sirius due to the threat of his mother finding out he had yet again brought shame upon their family name.

Friday morning arrived and with it came postal owls, a majestic owl dropped an easily recognisable letter in front of Sirius, a howler. Students around him stared with rapt attention suddenly the howler jumped into life the distinct and harsh voice of Walburga Black screamed out towards him "Sirius Orion Black you are no son of mine you disgrace, you bring shame upon The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" The tirade of abuse carried on for a further five minutes, Sirius stared ahead with a blank look upon his face. The Slytherins openly laughed, his brother Regulus looked over with disgust from the Slytherin table. Once it ended Remus tried to place a comforting hand on his arm which Sirius quickly shook off before standing up and striding out of the hall much the amusement of the students adorned in green and silver. Peter looked startled whilst James looked sorrowful, Sirius for all he pretends not to care would be deeply hurt by his mother's words.

The rest of Friday seemed to pass painfully slow, Sirius refused to talk about the Howler with any of the boys, he went up to the dormitory straight after lessons, closing his curtains, no sound emerged and Remus assumed he must have placed a silencing charm around them. A tense silence engulfed their room so Remus decided tonight would be as good as any other to go and research his strange behaviour on the last full moon in the library. As curfew approached Remus trudged up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower, his search for information had been unsuccessful, the only books in the library graphically described the dangers of werewolves and the most effective ways to trap and kill such beasts.

Saturday was a dreary day fitting the mood of the Marauders room perfectly, Sirius still in a sombre mood accompanied James down to the entrance hall to meet Filch, whilst Remus and Peter got ready for the Hogsmeade trip, Remus had offered to stay at the castle however James had insisted he go, begging him to keep an eye on Lily for him. It was becoming increasingly more dangerous in the world outside of Hogwarts as the maniac Voldemort gained more followers, the Prophet had begun reporting disappearances, causing wide spread fear.

Filch grinned menacingly at the boys "Thought you could skip lessons did you, well this will teach you, I've been instructed to take you up to first floor lavatories, been flooded they have and it's your job to tidy it up, without wands"

As the two sullen boys began mopping up the floor admired by Moaning Myrtle, Remus and Peter were setting off to Hogsmeade. Peter was enthusiastically telling Remus about a new food combination he had created, however Remus' mind was elsewhere, he was worried about Padfoot, he had a wall built up around him and refused to let anyone in. Remus knew all about keeping things bottled up, he was determined to cheer Sirius up even if he was unwilling to discuss his problems.

Once they arrived at Hogsmeade they went to Honeydukes per Peters insistence, Wormtail stocked up on sweets, and Remus treated himself to a single chocolate frog, he had managed to save himself a small amount of money over the summer by completing odd jobs around the neighbourhood. At lunchtime, they made their way over to the to the Three Broomsticks, butterbeer in hand they tried to find a table. "Remus" a voice shouted he span around, was that Marlene he looked over confused she began to wave at him beckoning him over.

"Hey Remus"

"Hello Marlene"

"Want to sit with us?"

"Erm, sure"

"You can sit by Lily" She said smirking, Remus smiled at Lily taking a seat, Marlene sure was acting odd, Peter seemed happy enough to be sitting with the girls a goofy grin plastered across his face.

"Lily was wanting to get some new quills, I'm sure she would enjoy the company"

"Oh. Well I'm here with Peter"

"He can stay with us" Marlene swiftly countered.

Remus turned to Lily "I can come with you if you like"

"That would be nice thank you" Lily answered glaring at Marlene.

Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop was surprisingly quite busy, Lily quickly made her purchases and they escaped back onto the street moving towards a less crowded alley "So Marlene was acting pretty odd" Remus enquired.

"I know" Lily sighed exasperatedly "She seems to think we would make a good couple"

Remus spluttered "Lily I, not to mean offence but I don't think that would be a good idea, you see"

"Merlin Remus stop" She laughed "I know I don't like you like that, we are just friends, she seems to think when I say we are revising that I'm actually going for illicit meetings in broom cupboards" Relief was evident on his face "Gosh I'm not that bad am I?"

"No Lily I just could not, have not actually, ever viewed you romantically"

"Well good, one Marauder hounding me is enough" She joked.

Meeting back up with the others, they decided to have one more butterbeer before the group headed back to Hogwarts.

Remus decided it would be best not to tell James about Marlene's eagerness to couple up himself with Lily, after the misunderstanding they had it might just make him moody, plus him and Sirius didn't look pleased at all when they returned from their detention.

As Remus lay in bed that night he racked his brain of ways to cheer Sirius up, none came and soon his tiredness overwhelmed him. Hours later in the pitch black dormitory Remus stirred, he had always been a light sleeper his sensitive hearing was alert even when he slumbered, he could hear the soft padding of feet before the dormitory door opened and gently closed. He quickly got up grabbing the chocolate frog from his nightstand and crept down to the common room, sat alone on one of the couches staring into the fire was Sirius.

"Can't sleep Padfoot?" Remus sat down beside him on the couch. "Want to talk about it?"

Sirius sighed and continued to stay silent "How about we share some chocolate, that always cheers me up"

Sirius looked up and smiled slightly "It's okay Remus I know chocolate is your favourite"

Remus pulled out his wand and sliced it in half pressing a piece into Sirius' hand.

"I don't want to talk Moony"

"That's okay, we can just sit"

"It's just difficult you know"

Remus once again placed a comforting hand on Sirius' arm, this time though it was not shaken off, Sirius took a bite of the chocolate. He gazed up at the concerned face of his friend "I feel guilty"

"Guilty? You have done nothing wrong Pads"

"I have though haven't I, I'm upset about what that cruel woman said to me, she's horrible Remus, she would be happy to see people like you dead on the floor whilst Purebloods like her were rewarded for the luck of being born into the right family, it's not fair"

"She is your mother Sirius no one would blame you for wanting her to love you"

"It disgusts me that her hatred of me actually hurts I should be glad that she shuns me, at least it proves I am not as dark and as evil as her"

Remus inched closer to Sirius "You are such a wonderful person Pads and she's a fool to not see what an honourable and smart son she has, I don't think she will ever change her opinion but you have a new family, the Marauders, the Gryffindor's, and I know the Potters love you, I know it's not the same as your proper family nobody could replace them but you should be proud of how different you are"

"You're right Remus, I'm sorry for being so distant with you all, I just know that its coming to the point where I will have to make the choice between them and all of you, I would never pick them and their ideals, I just don't want to say goodbye, I'm worried about Regulus most of all, he's going to end up a death eater I'm sure of it, I was meant to protect him and I failed"

"Regulus made his own choices Sirius, and if he ever changed his mind we will be there to support you and him"

"Thank you Moony it feels good to get this off my chest, but that's enough about that, I think I've wallowed enough, tell me about Hogsmeade did anything exciting happen?"

"Well actually I think I have found out that Marlene has lost the plot a bit"

"Go on?"

Remus and Sirius continued to talk laughing about Marlene's failed matchmaking, Sirius also entertained Remus with a story from his detention, he was adamant that Moaning Myrtle had a crush on James begging him to visit her again soon and complimenting his physique as he mopped. Sirius went to bed feeling much lighter than he had in days and it was all thanks to Remus, he would be treating his furry friend to some chocolate frogs to show his gratitude.


	14. Gryffindor Vs Hufflepuff

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.**

 **November 1976**

The day of the first Quidditch Match of the school year had arrived, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. James had still not figured out who the mysterious flyer was, which resulted in a very anxious James Potter. The only positive he could see was that Sirius had cheered up significantly, the handy work of Remus no doubt, especially considering the amount of chocolate Sirius showered Remus with over the past week. Merlin only knew what he would have done if his star beater didn't have his head in the game.

At breakfast, the Gryffindor Quidditch Team sat together, James was rattling off reminders to each member, the nerves of his first match as Captain showing.

"You need to relax Prongs, have some breakfast, we have this" Sirius reassured, the surrounding Gryffindor's nodded in agreement.

Remus and Peter sat off to the side of the group, wrapped up in cloaks and their Gryffindor scarfs, the weather in Scotland had begun to take a turn for the worse. The visibility would be poor throughout the match today due to the heavy rain and winds, another worry for the Gryffindor Captain.

James visibly perked up when he saw Lily enter the hall wrapped up in her cloak ready to watch the match.

"Hey Evans!" James shouted loudly "You excited to watch me play? If we win how about a date to the next Hogsmeade weekend since I didn't make the last one?" This earned him a hard glare form Lily and snickers from his team mates.

"Shove off Potter" Lily stormed away to sit far down the Gryffindor table.

James turned to Sirius with a pained look upon his face "I thought she would like me more after the party, I don't understand" he whined.

"Mate, you threw a cauldron cake off her head, after you had already covered everyone in Pumpkin slime, I don't know what you expected Prongs"

"Well I thought she would recognise my genius Padfoot"

"Do you reckon he will ever learn Wormtail?" Remus asked amused. Peter just laughed in response.

* * *

The walk to the Quidditch Pitch seemed to take forever in the rain, as the boys approached the pitch Remus turned to Sirius "Good luck today Pads, and be careful in this wind"

"I don't need luck with skills like mine" He playfully replied.

"Sirius please, your big headedness is so unbecoming" Remus remarked adopting an aristocratic drawl.

"Do excuse me, for I am ever so sorry Remus darling, I shall endeavour to be humbler"

"Are you two finished?" James interrupted impatiently "We have a match to win"

"Keep your horns on Prongs I'm coming" Sirius snapped, throwing Remus a wink.

Remus and Peter began to make their way up into the stands, to find seats with their fellow sixth years.

* * *

The match had been going on for fifty minutes now, much to James' relieve the person he had seen flying was evidently not any of the members of the Hufflepuff team. Gryffindor was up by 30 points; the snitch was hard to spot in these conditions, so it was important they furthered their point lead. James scanned the field speedily assessing his team, he spotted Sirius whack a bludgers towards a Hufflepuff beater, distracting him from his pursuit of Stephanie Bell a seventh year Gryffindor chaser. "A fine shot by Black there, and Bell scores making the score 90 to 50 for Gryffindor" Sounded the commentators voice across the pitch.

The Gryffindor's cheered wildly as James scored again, the few Slytherins who had come, just to monitor tactics for their own upcoming matches, booed loudly as they glared at James' back, Sirius swooped towards his best friend to give him a high-five. Gryffindor was now leading by 70 points. The Hufflepuff team had lost their rhythm and were now performing carelessly, allowing the Gryffindor's to increase their lead.

After Two hours and ten minutes the snitch was finally caught by Henry Cragg sealing the victory for Gryffindor, the students adorned in crimson and gold roared in success. Many of the students ran down to the pitch to congratulate the team as they landed. Remus instead walked towards the changing rooms to catch his friends away from the crowd, the noise on the pitch had begun to grate on his sensitive ears. Ten minutes later the team came into view, Sirius jogged up to Remus grinning " Did you see my swing at Macmillan? I'm amazing I know" Sirius boasted.

"You both did great" James joined them as the rest of the team went into the changing rooms to shower off "Well done as your first match as captain Prongs"

"Thanks, Moony, right I'm gonna go shower I don't want to stink for Evans at the celebration party"

"Good luck with that" Sirius laughed, with a glare James left. Silence began to stretch between the two.

"Right well I best go shower"

"Yes, of course, I'll just see you up at the school" Both boys stood awkwardly staring at each other.

"Finally, I found you Remus you ready to walk up to the hall? Dinner is getting served soon" Peter asked.

Remus give Sirius a small smile before walking away with Peter, Sirius stayed glued where he was watching Remus' retreat before shaking his head laughing at himself he ran into the changing rooms.

* * *

The Gryffindor's were boisterous throughout dinner and the raucous celebrations continued up in the common room, the marauders congregated in the corner "Reckon we should run to Hogsmeade to get a little something to spice this celebration up Pads?"

"Prongs I cannot face alcohol after Halloween please don't mention it"

James, Peter, and Remus laughed at the Sirius, his face paling at the mere mention of alcohol.

"You're probably right" James chuckled "Right I'm going to go speak to Evans todays win must have warmed me up to her.

"I'm gonna go grab some food" Peter called as he too walked off.

"How much you want to bet James gets hexed within the next five minutes"

"Pads I am not going to make a bet, it's a definite he will be hexed" The pair laughed together, the awkward atmosphere from earlier this afternoon having disappeared.

The appearance of Stephanie Bell suddenly interrupted them, "Sirius come on over the team was just going over the game, and my saviour from the match should be there too, you were brilliant getting Macmillan off my back" she winked before grabbing Sirius by the hand and dragging him away.

Remus stared as the Gryffindor Chaser pulled Sirius down onto the sofa next to her, James joined them soon after, she was tall with long black hair that shines brilliantly, her eyes were a startling blue, the girl was quidditch mad and stunningly beautiful.

Remus sighed he was irritated couldn't she see they were speaking, I'm only annoyed as she acted rudely interrupting our conversation and pulling Sirius away, yes that was it, I'm just annoyed that she was impolite. Remus rationalised his feelings of aggravation.

Lily came up to Remus "Just look at her, she thinks she's amazing doesn't she, she doesn't even do any complex manoeuvres, its James who sets up her throws" Lily ranted.

Remus looked surprised at Lily, but her eyes were focused on Stephanie and James laughing together, Sirius sat next to them grinning as well. Remus deciding, he was done with this celebration turned to Lily, "I'm sorry Lils I'm gonna head to bed I have a headache it's been a busy day"

"I think I'll head to bed too, want to study together tomorrow, a day in the library?"

"That sounds lovely, goodnight Lily"

"Night Remus" The two friends departed heading up to bed leaving the other Gryffindor's to the party.


	15. Protection Runes

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

 **Author's Note: This will be a more Remus and Lily focused chapter, I always loved the thought of them both bonding over their love of academia.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.**

 **Mid November 1976**

The next day Sirius woke up around noon, stretching out he winced at the pain in his muscles, I really need to remember to stretch out before the matches he thought, dragging himself up he glanced around the room as he made his way towards the bathroom for a shower, noting all the open curtains, everyone was gone.

After his shower he quickly dressed before making his way down the stairs to search for Remus, he wanted to check up on him as he had disappeared early last night and by the time he had went up to bed Remus was asleep. Sirius didn't find Remus until dinner that evening, when he arrived in the hall Remus was already sat there with Lily, a huge tome and parchment spread around them, they were avidly discussing some topic presumably from the book in front of them. Sirius scowled slightly, he had been looking for Remus all afternoon to check he was okay and evidently, he was, well fine since he was so happy without him he would go sit with James instead.

James was sat with Peter and they were surrounded by the Quidditch team, he looked up as Sirius sat down "Great you're here! We were reviewing our performance yesterday to try organise our training plan for the next few weeks before the Christmas break"

Meanwhile Lily chatted rapidly in excitement "Remus I don't know what I would do without you, today has taken such a weight off my shoulders, as soon as I turn seventeen I'll be able to set up the protection web around Petunias house, even if she doesn't want to talk to me I'll be able to protect her, she is still family no matter what"

Remus and Lily has begun the day doing Ancient Runes research when they stumbled upon a text describing protective runes which could be etched around your property as a defensive mechanism, they had both been given permission slips for the restricted section early in the year as their head of house knew they would need it for their essays and research. They had both heard of wards, Hogwarts had many wards, such as the anti-apparition wards, however wards were difficult to set long term and needed renewing often. Powerful wards needed multiple casters, or in the case of some of the older pureblood family's their blood wards would be sustained from the power of the family magic. However, their research today had found a different protective method, runes etched on the foundations of the property, the runes had to be carved perfectly in the correct phase of the moon, if done with pure intentions the runes created a web of protective magic around a property. The runes could only be removed by the original caster, or if the casters intentions became twisted and impure they would disintegrate, they would even last through death. They had both been amazed by this possibility and had ran to Professor McGonagall's office to enquire about this, she had told them that the method was no longer used, as wards could be adapted for a multitude of uses and were deemed stronger, plus many people it seemed did not have as pure a heart that they thought, and the runes would fail completely. Lily however had been determined and, so she and Remus had spent the rest of the day searching through countless textbooks to begin to determine which runes would be ideal, after dinner they were going to see Professor Babbling to consult with her about their theory and work so far.

As soon as the pair had wolfed down some food they collected up their parchment and books before hurrying out of the hall to search for Professor Babbling, neither of them noticed Marlene's suggestive grin or Sirius and Severus' dark looks.

"Ooh look at them two rushing off together" Stephanie spoke up.

"Right? So, what?" Sirius snapped.

Momentarily taken aback Stephanie then responded, "Well I heard that they are dating, Marlene McKinnon was talking about them after the Hogsmeade weekend"

"No, they are not" James interjected "Remus told me there was nothing between them"

"I don't know mate they do look pretty close" Longbottom added.

"You're all daft, there is nothing going on between Lily and Remus" James' raised voice attracted a few stares. It was just at that point that Marlene was walking past the group.

"Maybe there isn't yet but there will be soon" Marlene said mischievously before continuing her way.

The conversation at the table moved on, James just shook his head at them all, Remus had given him his word and he trusted him, however Stephanie, Frank and Marlene's words echoed around Sirius' mind. He was only bothered because Remus was his and James' friend and should have told them if something was happening, or so he tried to tell himself.

* * *

Unaware of the gossip surrounding them Lily and Remus had reached their Runes Professors office and were waiting for her to answer after politely knocking on the door. The door opened, and the Professor smiled down at the them, "Oh hello, what can I help you with my dears?"

"We have some questions for you Professor we have been doing some research" Lily excitedly answered pulling out the pile of parchment she and Remus had amassed.

"Come on in then let's have a look, I'm sure it will be interesting if it's a joint venture from you both"

Lily and Remus proceeded to explain their findings to a rather impressed Professor "Excellent, just excellent, this would be remarkable research project for your NEWTs final next year, if you both want to continue with this you can use this as a joint submission, depending on your findings you could even be published"

"So, you think the runes we have picked so far would work?"

"They look promising indeed children, however I propose you go away and think over the ritual you have referred to, what are the problems? Consider why this method of protection has faded out over the years to be replaced completely by wards if you could improve upon the rune application it would be a breakthrough"

"Remus what do you think? Can we continue working on this as our joint project?"

"I would love to Lily"

"Next year after Christmas I was going to set mini projects for the class to prepare you for your final NEWT projects in your seventh year, but I think you would both benefit from focusing on this now, it will be no easy feat to expand upon the current theory and to develop a new concept for your finals, so if you are both in agreement you will be partners for the rest of your course, you can come see me as often as you like to discuss your findings, I expect great things from you both"

"Thank you, Professor," Lily was positively beaming from the praise, the hope in her eyes was clear to Remus also. He couldn't wait to tell Sirius about this, if this project was published it would mean so much for Remus, to be acknowledged in an academic journal is a major accomplishment and may make potential employers to take Remus more seriously and with his affliction he would need all the help he can get for a future career.

Both Lily and Remus walked back to Gryffindor tower feeling focused and happy with the days outcome, just as they approached the Fat Lady Lily put a hand on Remus' arm stopping his stride "Thank you Remus, you really are a good friend"

"Lily we aren't just friends, we are a family, I will always be here to help you" The statement brought tears to her eyes.

"Remus, I can't express how much that truly means to me, I have felt so alone recently, sometimes it's easy to miss what's right in front of your eyes" She gave him a quick hug swiping her tears away "Come on let's get back in the common room I'm sure your boys are looking for you"

Remus parted ways with Lily at the common room entrance, he quickly scanned the room and couldn't see his three friends, so he made his way up to the dormitory. "Moony finally, you will not believe what Marlene's been spouting, she is telling people that you and Lily are getting together, she is just being daft though isn't she?" James immediately rushed out before Remus had even managed to sit down.

"Not this again" Remus groaned.

"Again?" Sirius said accusingly.

"She keeps implying theirs something between Lily and I, which there isn't Lily is a good friend, its getting rather annoying to be honest, I told you about Marlene's ridiculous matchmaking already remember Pads?"

"Oh yeah" Sirius felt ridiculous, why he had gotten so worked up over this was a mystery, he knew Remus didn't like Lily in that way.

"Anyways I have incredible news!" Remus then explained his project to the boys, carefully leaving out any references to Lily's personal reasons to pursue this scheme.

"Awesome Remus, I always knew Lily was a genius, she's perfect I tell you"

"Prongs stop raving about the little flame you're boring me" Sirius teased, a pillow was promptly thrown at the complainer, who morphed into a dog tearing up the pillow.

"No fair Pads that's my pillow" bellowed James, the dog only wagged his tail in response, before jumping on Remus bed for protection behind its wolfish friend.


	16. Unforgivable

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

 **Author's Note: Happy New Years everyone all the best for 2018, please leave a review and let me know what you think of the story :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.**

 **Mid-Late November 1976**

The day for the sixth-year students to begin brewing the final submission of their potions in their groups had arrived, the professor had prepared the students to be able to work independently as this potion would contribute towards their final grade of the year. The boys woke up late as they had stayed up well into night discussing some prank ideas for Christmas, the group hurried down to hall to grab breakfast before their lessons started. As they approached the doors of the hall they were greeted with silence.

"Have we missed breakfast?" Peter asked worried.

Remus quickly cast tempus to check "No there is still fifteen minutes left"

"So why is everyone so quiet?" James mused.

"Only one way to find out isn't there" Sirius said as he flung open the door.

The sight that met the boys was confusing, there sat the entirety of the student body in silence with grim, worried, or pained expressions, except for the Slytherins who either sported expressions of indifference or barely masked glee. The marauders took their seats trying to figure out what could have happened to cause such a reaction, a Gryffindor at the table slid the Daily Prophet over to the boys splashed across the front page was the headline 'Muggle Massacre, Who Will Stop This Terror?'. Below was a detailed article describing how multiple family members of Muggleborns had been targeted, tortured, and killed, 27 people had been murdered in a single night. The boys looked sombre trying to process this horrific news, even Peter passed on breakfast, they like many others felt sick at what had happened, how could people perform such horrendous acts on other human beings, the reality of the threat dark wizards posed was becoming clear. It was then that the boys noticed some students they knew weren't present in the hall, the cause obvious, Remus felt a knot form in his stomach he swiftly scanned the table for Lily relieved when he saw her sat with her friends a look of grim determination and anger set on her face. Remus wished that the protection he and Lily were currently working on could already be available to protect those vulnerable to attacks, it was unfair that muggles did not have wards to keep their homes protected from such violent attacks.

Sirius meanwhile was searching for another face in the mass of students, his gaze was focused scanning the Slytherin table he rapidly sought out his brother the sight that met his eyes breaking his heart. There sat his brother looking pleased, to others his brother may have looked only bored, but Sirius could see the happy gleam to his eyes. His stomach churned, he rose from his chair exiting the hall unable to sit there knowing his brother had found some perverse pleasure at others suffering.

Remus glanced at James who nodded in response Remus rose to follow Sirius and speak with him, he caught up with him quickly "Sirius stop" Remus pleaded.

Sirius turned to look at Remus his eyes filled with despair "He was happy" He whispered.

Comprehension flashed across his eyes before Remus enveloped Sirius in a hug "I'm sorry Pads, I truly am I know you loved him"

"My own brother Remus, how could he? I think I'm going to be sick"

"I know Sirius, I know" Remus tried to soothe his best friend.

"I knew the day I had to choose between my family and my new life was approaching and this has made my decision for me, I will never go back to them after this, they have corrupted Regulus and turned him into some monster loyal to a cause that only seeks destruction and death" Sirius took a moment taking big gulps of air trying to suppress the feeling of nausea that had overtook him "The marauders are my only family now" He said with finality.

James and Peter appeared around the corner and Remus reluctantly let Sirius go so he could speak with the others.

"Dumbledore just made a speech, he said the morning lessons were cancelled" James told them.

"Can we go outside I don't feel like going to the common room"

"Come on Pads lets go for a walk to the lake" James had followed Sirius' eyes in the hall and had seen his disgust at Regulus, it had not taken long for James to figure out how his friend was feeling, he could not even begin to imagine how he wold feel if a member of his own family was affiliated with dark magic.

* * *

The afternoon arrived far too quickly, and many students were still in shock at the news the morning post owls had brought, the halls of Hogwarts were silent as the occupants made their way to their lessons.

Professor Slughorn a usually jovial man was subdued as he guided the students to begin their potions, for once James did not tease Lily and they worked together well in hushed tones as did many of the students.

Sirius guided Remus in the ingredient preparation as he focused on combining the elements in perfect timing in their cauldron "Make sure you use the flat side of your blade to squeeze the sopophorous beans Moony"

"The recipe says to cut them thought Pads?"

"I've been doing extra potion studies and I realised that there are some easier ways to prepare ingredients, trust me"

Remus nodded his head Potions was not his strong suit, so he would follow Sirius' lead on this one, he prepared the 12 beans the recipe called for and handed the juice over to Sirius who added it to the cauldron.

"I wonder if maybe an extra bean would improve this" Sirius mused aloud before continuing with the next step, best not to differ from the instructions too much he decided. After an hour their potion looked close to the description in the book, Slughorn came over and peeked into their cauldron an impressed expression lighting his face.

"Well done boys, I dare say a near perfect potion I have only seen it created better once by another student you should be very happy indeed"

"Probably by the hooked nose loser Snape" Sirius whispered maliciously to Remus.

Remus who usually scolded Sirius for his nasty comments held his tongue his anger towards certain members of Slytherin house were understandable today of all days.

From across the room James shot the boys some thumbs up signalling that his and Lily's potion the Enchanting Philtre had also been created without an issue, hopefully guaranteeing them all good marks, the potions were safely bottled and submitted before the end of the lesson.

* * *

Later that evening in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory the Marauders sat huddled together avidly discussing their new plans for Christmas, yes it was true they were prank extraordinaire, but their skills could be used for other purposes when necessary, and they were indeed necessary. Hogwarts had been engulfed in mourning and fear and the boys knew everyone needed something joyful and entertaining to remind them of the positive things in life, so it was decided instead of a Christmas prank the boys were going to make Christmas extra magical for the occupants of the castle. It was wrong for children to be walking around petrified, for students to be mourning the loss of family and friends, and for rage and pain to eat away at so many. The marauders knew they needed to try and help make a difference, no matter how small it was.


	17. Operation Snow School Today

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.**

 **Late November – Early December 1976**

The weeks following what could only be viewed as a horrifying tragedy saw House tensions at an all time high, fights broke out daily in the corridors, Muggleborn students began to walk together in groups too support each other and the castle was filled with silence as the students and teachers tried to process what such a large-scale attack meant for their futures.

Remus' transformation was violent, his pent-up frustration caused by his feelings of helplessness raged out of him in his wolf form, the wolf destroyed the shack damaging itself severely in the process. Sirius refused to leave Remus' bedside the following day even though the fair headed boy was unconscious for most it. James had left Sirius to watch over Remus and had gone back to the boy's dormitory with Peter, he saw all the heartbreak around him and didn't know what to do, the boys had discussed the idea of doing something incredible for Christmas, but nothing seemed right, it seemed so meagre and distasteful after the dark events that shattered so many families.

* * *

The December Hogsmeade weekend was cancelled as security was tightened, surprisingly no one complained many not feeling the excitement of Christmas. The boys walked along the corridors on the first weekend of December instead of adventuring through the snowy streets of Hogsmeade, looking outside no students could be seen.

"Isn't it strange not seeing anyone outside?" James commented.

Remus looked up "Yeah, usually you and the mutt would be starting snowball fights"

Sirius nudged Remus "I'm no mutt"

"Maybe that would be a good idea, organise a snowball fight for the entire school"

The three boys turned to Peter with shocked expressions "Peter that's an awesome idea!" James finally spluttered out.

"Merlin Wormtail Prongs is right that is a wicked idea!" Sirius agreed.

"We really should include the _entire_ school, I think everyone needs something to smile about right now" James acknowledged he often thought negatively of the Slytherins, but he wasn't ignorant to the fact that not everyone is evil. He had watched this week as students as old as seventh years shot nasty looks at first year Slytherins, first years for Merlin's sake, they were only small children.

"If we do it in a way where it doesn't just encourage aggressive fighting I think that would be great, maybe if we had mixed teams there would be no specific targeting of any one house" Remus didn't specify Slytherins, but his meaning was clear.

Sirius looked speculative before nodding, just because most of his family were the worst kind of Slytherins didn't mean you could assume all of them were, his cousin Andromeda was a Slytherin and one of the kindest women he knew.

Peter grinned, delighted with the praise, he never felt like he contributed much to their plans, so it was always satisfying when he managed to come up with the best idea.

* * *

It was James who suggested they speak to Lily about their idea, with she herself being a Muggleborn, they approached her in the common room that same night.

"Hey Evans, can we speak with you?"

"Please Potter I don't have the energy for your ridiculousness just go away"

"Lily just hear him out" Remus requested, Lily acquiesced as Remus had become a dear friend to her.

James explained their idea after they had applied some privacy charms around the table Lily was seated at, to say she was surprised at his compassion would have been an understatement.

"I think that's a wonderful idea but why are you telling me? You don't often run your plans by anyone first as far as I'm aware"

"Well we wanted your opinion on the plan as we worried it may seem insensitive to organise something like this right now and I was also interested to see if you had any other ideas to contribute?"

"How about a snowman building competition, not everyone will want to take part in a snowball fight"

"See, this is why we need you on board Evans that's brilliant"

Many people were shocked to see Lily Evans spending time with the Marauders, Lily and Remus together pouring over books had become a common occurrence, but Lily 'Potter is the bane of my existence' Evans sat willingly with James 'Troublemaker and rulebreaker extraordinaire' Potter? That was unheard of and confused students and teachers alike.

After a week of planning the group was prepared to execute Operation Snow School Today, a name unagreed upon by the group, but Sirius wouldn't entertain a name change so Operation Snow School Today it was. They had decided it was best to do it on a school day as all students and teachers would be in attendance for breakfast, many choosing to stay in their common rooms on weekends.

* * *

The marauders awoke early on Monday morning, despite Sirius' complaints and headed to the great hall meeting up with Lily, they all took a seat and ate breakfast awaiting the rest of the students. Marlene grinned widely as she walked into the hall spotting Lily sat next to Remus nudging Dorcas to show her before sliding into a chair opposite them next to James.

"Good morning Lily where have you been all weekend?" Marlene waggled her eyebrows suggestively as she questioned her friend

"Just around" Lily tried to sound nonchalant.

Marlene held her tongue but grinned cheekily at Lily causing her cheeks to blush slightly.

Once all the students had arrived James and Sirius jumped from their seats without a word and began to head towards the front of the hall. Clambering up to the staff table the boys were stopped from making their announcement by their angry head of house, Professor McGonagall began to scold the boys but was quickly silenced by a hand on the arm and a twinkling look from the Headmaster. She shot him a scowl but stayed silent nevertheless.

Applying a sonorous James cleared his throat garnering the full attention of the hall "May I have your attention please"

"You already have it mate" Sirius interjected causing a few snickers from the tables in front of them.

"So, I do" James grinned "I have an important announcement for all the students, today is to be an official snow day and therefore lessons are cancelled"

The confused and angry looks on the teachers faces ensured the silence of the students.

"It is with great pleasure that James and I introduce to you Hogwarts first official school wide snowball fight and snowman building competition or as we like to call it Operation Snow School Today"

A ripple of excitement began to spread through the younger students, Remus and Lily groaned "Did he really just say that name to the entire hall?" Remus laughed.

"He really thinks it's a good name, doesn't he?" Lily giggled. There attention was drawn back to the stage as James began speaking again.

"If you would all be so kind to go get changed into your winter clothes and meet us outside next to the entrance hall steps we will explain everything in more detail, everyone is welcome, so I want to see all you Gryffs, Puffs, Claws _and Slytherins_ out there"

"Thank you, Hogwarts!" Sirius declared as both boys bowed low. The shock at their invitation to all was momentary before many students leaped up to go get changed, the Slytherins were surprised at the offer, although it was true many Slytherins had family with dark connections the persecution of them all had been vicious and for the majority undeserving.

Before the boys could make a quick getaway the back of their robes was grabbed by a very angry looking Minerva McGonagall "How dare you two interrupt an entire day of teaching this way, you two are going to be severely punished after you tell all the students that lessons are in fact on"

Dumbledore rose to join them "Ah Minerva I do apologise I gave the boys permission, don't you think a bit of fun for the entire school is just what we need right now, a splendid idea indeed thanks you boys"

Minerva looked suspicious and shot a glare at her colleague "You did mention this Albus"

"I am afraid that it must have slipped my mind do forgive me"

Shooting the three one last suspicious glare she strode away. "I do believe you have things to organise boys go on" The headmaster smiled down at the two eyes twinkling before turning away.

The boys quickly hurried over to their friends "I swear he just winked at us" Sirius laughed.

"Did you see McGonagall's face? That would have been a good idea though actually asking for permission" James chuckled.

* * *

After twenty minutes had passed the students and staff, as recommended by Dumbledore, had all changed and were waiting below the steps.

"Thank you everyone, now as I said we have two competitions today, a snowman building competition, which will be led by none over than the beauty of Gryffindor, you all know her, Lily Evans"

"Thank you James" Lily faced the large crowd in front of her suddenly nervous she was not used to speaking in front of such large crowds and was now wondering how on earth the Marauders did it, she glanced over to them and Remus smiled encouragingly, pushing her nerves to the side she faced the crowd "The competition today will include a snowman category which will be done without wands, hands only and a snow sculpture competition which can be done with or without magic, the judges will be Dorcas, Alice, Marlene and myself. Dorcas and Alice both looked confused but were swiftly dragged up the steps by Marlene who made show of doing a dramatic curtsey.

"I would just like to announce I am open to bribes" Marlene added.

"No, she will not" Lily disagreed not seeing Marlene's wink to the crowd "Anyone who is interested in the competition can join throughout the day as the judging won't be until after dinner tonight so anyone who wants to take part in the snowball fight has the chance, for those who want to join straight away you can walk with me, we will be holding this on the lawn by greenhouse three, thank you"

"Ha look at Marlene go she's a natural" Sirius laughed to Remus "I think she could be one of us"

"Evans everyone, give her a round of applause" James declared as he made his way back to the top of the stairs to address the crowd.

"Come on you two" Sirius called behind his back as he ran up to James. Remus and Peter followed quickly, Remus was happily surprised to see there were many Slytherins in the crowd.

"Today's competition is as follows, everyone will split into groups of twenty with five team members from each house, if there are any odd numbers at the end we will sort that out after, each team will have thirty minutes to set up camp within the boundary" James pointed upwards.

Remus then projected a view of the map they had labelled and drawn a boundary line on into the air above James.

"Thanks Remus, after thirty minutes is up we will send a purple flare into the air signalling the start, the last team to forfeit will be the winners"

"Now we all know having us four on a team would just be unfair" Sirius professed earning some laughs "So we will all be splitting up and joining with different people, we encourage you to do the same, meeting new people and making new friends is what today is all about"

"Once everyone has got into teams we will start" With James' final comment the boys all bowed earning cheers from the crowd.

The boys had pre-empted that not all the students would be happy to play together, and they weren't wrong it was fifth year Hufflepuff who decided to speak out "I don't think those _snakes_ should be allowed to join in they will probably _cheat_ and gang up on everyone"

Before the boys could counter Professor Sprout strode to the front of the group "Mister Simmons if that is how you feel then I suggest you return inside and help Mister Filch with some cleaning, does that sound more entertaining?" Her glare received a mumbled apology.

"I would like to second Professor Sprouts statement if any students have problems with cooperation then you will lose the privilege of participating in todays games, I suggest all the teams have a mixture of students from each year, so no team is at a disadvantage, enjoy" Minerva added before stepping aside.

* * *

The snowball fight had been waging on for three hours now and James applied a sonorous to call for a break, the students began to make their way to hall many soaked right through, the older students taking pity on the younger children cast warming charms as they passed. The boys all met on the Gryffindor table and surveyed the hall, the students were sat mixed up on tables, a sight they had never seen, the groups using the temporary ceasefire as a time to plan their strategy for the afternoon.

"I can't believe how well this has worked out" Remus said amazed.

"Its really something else" James agreed turning to Peter "You did a great thing Wormtail"

"It was all of us" Peter beamed he himself awed at how Hogwarts had been brought together by his own suggestion.

The staff were more astounded than the boys never having witnessed such cooperation in their many years of teaching at Hogwarts "This really was a lovely thing those boys came up with today, it's a shame they spend so much time focussing on mischief when they so easily brought everyone together" Minerva spoke the pride at her lions evident as she smiled fondly down at the boys who had given her many a grey hair.

"How is the snow sculptures and snowmen coming along Lily?" Remus asked his friend.

"Really good, I had Slytherins ask me how to make a snowman by hand and they were polite to me, I didn't believe today was going to be this successful"

Once the children had refuelled they were soon back out in the school grounds to resume the competitions. With some extra Slytherins joining them, their curiosity piqued in the hall over lunch.

* * *

A couple of hours later seen only a few groups remaining, many having forfeit to join Lily having tired of the madness of the snowball fight. Three of the four marauders were still going strong and were determined to be the winning group, Remus had surprised his group by being highly competitive, his inner wolf was relishing in the competition which only fuelled Remus' determination to win. The team Peter was in had agreed to forfeit an hour after lunch, the remaining teams all had built up forts from which they were launching their attacks.

Severus Snape was an unexpected participant in the schoolwide snowball fight and Remus had approached him offering him a spot on his team, he often felt guilty about the extent at which James and Sirius targeted Severus and had decided to extend an olive branch of sorts to him. Severus had at first been hesitant before agreeing and Remus was now glad he had asked Snape to join him as the Slytherin proved to be very cunning, Remus and Severus planned their attack coordinating their group together.

Meanwhile James and Sirius' groups were in a full-blown war, Sirius lead the charge and tackled James to the ground while two Ravenclaw fourth years in his group piled armfuls of snow on top of James, leading to James' surrender.

"They have just taken out Potters team, now is the time to strike" Severus informed the others. Remus' group split into two with Remus and Severus leading the best spellcasters with them, the younger students charged from the front drawing Sirius' groups attention.

"Release the snowballs" Sirius cried.

"You ready?" Remus asked the group, they nodded "GO!" The band of fifth, sixth and seventh years leaped out from behind them whipping their wands in rapid movements. Snowballs zipped through the air like bludgers homing in on their targets whilst Severus and Remus formed walls of snow to trap Sirius' team, they were quickly drenched throwing their hands up in surrender.

"I will never surrender" Sirius called running for Remus with a large snowball, Remus' eyes flashed gold unnoticed by everyone in the chaos, Remus ran for Sirius using his wand to melt the snowball in Sirius hand before tackling him to the ground effectively pinning him down, his hands slipping around Sirius' wrists preventing him from grabbing anymore snow.

"Surrender' Remus' voice came out husky and commanding causing Sirius to momentarily forget where he was. Sirius stared wide eyed at Remus, taking in the boy's appearance.

"I surrender" he breathed out, Remus' team whooped in triumph drawing the boys' attention back to their surroundings, Remus stood up and offered his hand to Sirius looking sheepish.

"Sorry about that Pads I don't know what came over me"

"Its fine thrill of the fight and all that eh Remus" Sirius however was feeling very confused, for a moment it had felt like he and Remus were the only two people there, the feeling of Remus on top of him had made him feel very strange, a feeling he had never had before and couldn't accurately identify.

Remus' heart was pounding he had felt the wolf so close to the surface, he had momentarily lost control and had pinned Sirius hard to the ground he felt very disconcerted, he tried to calm his breathing as he and Sirius walked with the rest of their groups over to the lawns where Lily was overseeing the other half of the competition.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the judging of Hogwarts Snow thingies" Marlene called "I pass you over to Lily who has the results"

Lily laughed at Marlene before standing in front of the crowd "I know you are all tired after today, I would just like to congratulate the winning team of the snowball fight first" Applause from the students rang out, Severus looked very uncomfortable as did the other four Slytherins in the group unused to praise from the entire school. "Now on with the winners, first place for the snowman competition goes to Mary Bowers in Slytherin who somehow managed to get the largest carrot I have ever seen for a nose" The applause was deafening and the young girl blushed beaming with happiness. "The winner for the snow sculpting competition had us judges in a very heated discussion but we finally agreed on a winner and that is Pandora Wildsmith with her creation she calls a Crumple-Horned Snorcack, Pandora stood and smiled serenely at the crowd graciously accepting her applause.

Dumbledore then appeared at the front of the crowd "I hope you all had a wonderful day, thank you Misters Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew and Miss Evans. I would like to invite you all to the great hall for some hot chocolate and biscuits before you retire to your dormitories. Remember the friendships you have forged today and that we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided" With a swish of his purple robes he led the way to the hall.

"I reckon that went well, want to join the team permanently Evans?" James asked with a wink

"To think I was starting to consider you a friend, goodbye Potter" Lily called before walking away with her friends a small smile tugging at her lips unseen by the marauders.

"Better luck next time Prongs" Sirius howled.


	18. Alone

**The Infamous Marauders**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

 **Author's Note: Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.**

 **December 1976**

The lull in house rivalries lead to a slightly more relaxed atmosphere within the school, the mixture of students at house tables did not continue, however people could be seen speaking to fellow students of different houses in the corridors and the Slytherins were not shunned as frequently. Seeing supposedly dark wizards laughing and playing in the snow helped to somewhat change people's viewpoints, the friendships were certainly more prominent between the younger students than the older ones though. To say that Hogwarts had changed overnight would be untrue, years of disagreements, suspicion and in some cases hatred would not be forgotten because of a single day of students being civil with one another. The students gradually became more jovial as Christmas decorations began to appear around the castle, despite the increase in homework given out for the holidays, and the silence in the halls was steadily replaced with excited chatter.

Remus however noticed that Sirius' mood had begun to darken the closer it came to the Christmas holidays, he had rarely seen Sirius as he was often with Lily researching their Ancient Rune project and his friend was frequently practicing flying with James. When he did see him in classes and at meal times he had begun to talk less and had a brooding look on his face, he always attempted to perk up when people spoke to him directly, but Remus could tell it was all a front. He had attempted to speak to him about it, but he always said he was busy and rushed off, Remus was beginning to think Sirius was avoiding him. He hoped he had not scared Sirius the other day when his wolf rose up during the final standoff in the snowball fight. He decided he needed to speak with Sirius, even if he was avoiding him his friend was obviously bottling something up, so he wanted to help.

It wasn't till later that day that Remus saw Sirius he had hoped to catch him at Dinner but only James arrived telling Remus and Peter that he was grabbing some food for him and Sirius to take down the pitch, so they could go fly undisturbed.

* * *

When the two returned to the dormitory from flying Remus finally had his opportunity "Hey Pads you mind coming to the kitchens with me, I really fancy going down for some hot chocolate?" Remus hoped that Sirius would say yes, he had decided to ask in front of the others thinking Sirius would be more likely to accept.

Sirius hesitated for a moment before nodding "Sure let me just have a shower then we can go down"

Sirius stepped underneath the hot shower relishing in the sensation of the water cascading over his sore muscles, he had been practicing non-stop with James recently in a bid to keep his mind distracted. He had been feeling increasingly anxious about not returning home for Christmas his mother and father were strict with their rules that Sirius must return over the holidays to attend family gatherings. He never wanted to return to that house but was nervous about the consequences he knew his parents would not hesitate in disowning him, they already openly despised him for being a Gryffindor and associating with blood traitors such as James, he knew to defy them and not return home would only anger his mother. He was also becoming increasingly unsure about his feelings towards Remus, he loved Remus he was his best friend, but things had seemed different recently and Sirius didn't know how to act with these unfamiliar feelings. Sirius finished in the shower and got dressed ready to go visit the kitchens.

"I'm ready, who has the map?" Sirius asked as he flicked his wand to dry his long black locks, Remus looked over the top of his book not believing his hair could look so perfect after being subjected to a simple drying charm.

James hopped off the bed and fetched the map from his trunk "Here you go"

"Thanks Prongs, let's go"

Remus put the book he was reading on his bed side table and jumped up "See you soon guys" Remus called to Peter and James.

"Bring me back a snack" Peter shouted as they exited the dorm.

The house elves were excited to see the young boys and happily greeted them "How can we serve you misters?"

"Can you please get us two hot chocolates and a slice a chocolate cake?" Sirius asked politely.

The elves quickly ran off to fulfil the request as Sirius and Remus took a seat.

"What's going on with you Pads you seem down?" Remus decided it would be best to get straight to the point.

"Nothing I'm fine I've just been tired with all the extra training"

Remus quirked an eyebrow at his response "I think after six years I would know you better than that, I just want you to know you can talk to me"

Sirius never liked to shut Remus out, it wouldn't be right to lie when Remus was only trying to be supportive. "It's just Christmas is coming up and this will be the first year I don't go home, I stand by my decision to never go back there I just feel so confused, I want to feel happy with my decision I hate their views, I do have good memories though from when I was younger" He sighed.

Remus had expected it was to do with this "Why don't you ask James if you could go to his over Christmas? I'm sure the Potters would love to have you there and once his parents know you don't want to go back maybe they could find a way to help you"

"I don't think that would be for the best, I don't want to ruin their Christmas, I might tell everyone that I'm going to visit other family"

"I'm pretty sure your as good as James' brother in their eyes I doubt you would ever ruin their Christmas, are you really considering visiting someone else in your family?"

"Merlin no I don't want anything to do with them the only person I might go see is Andromeda, but she will probably want to spend it with Ted and his family"

"You will need to speak to someone before the summer though Pads"

"I know, I just need some time to figure out what I'm going to do, if I turn my back on them fully I will be disowned, which will suit them then Regulus can be their perfect pureblood heir, I will have no home, no money" Sirius paused trying to reign in his emotions "This will be the first Christmas I spend alone, when I was younger at least I still had Regulus before they turned him into a mini wannabe death eater" Sirius spat.

"Well I'm staying at the school" Remus admitted in the hopes it would cheer Sirius up.

"You are? Then we can spend Christmas together! Wait how come you aren't going home this year?"

"I haven't gone back home for the Christmas holidays since our second year" Remus confessed.

"What? You have never told me that"

"The last few years you have taken the train I have been in the infirmary after my transformation or my transformation was due, so I just told you that I was travelling home later, I didn't want you to feel bad for me and stay at the castle"

"Why don't you go home for Christmas anymore?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"My dad doesn't enjoy Christmas without my mother anymore it seemed easier if I stayed at school, so he could pretend it wasn't Christmas at all"

Sirius felt guilty how had he never noticed that one of his best friends spent Christmas alone every year "Well this year we will have a great Christmas together"

The house elves waited patiently for a lapse in the boys' conversation to present them with their drinks and slice of cake grinning widely at the boys' gratitude. Remus eyes lit up instantly at the chocolatey treats. Sirius chuckled at his friend without fail chocolate would put a smile on Remus' face. He was looking forward to Christmas again and he was going to make sure Remus had an enjoyable Christmas too. He had been avoiding him since the snowball fight trying to ignore his feelings, but spending time with him tonight didn't feel weird, maybe if he hadn't avoided him he would have realised things were the same sooner.

"Listen Pads there is something else I wanted to talk to you about"

Sirius knew what was coming, Remus was surely going to mention how he had been avoiding him "Go ahead"

"Well when I pinned you the other day I know I probably came across really intense I just wanted to apologise properly, the wolf seemed to take over, it was still me, but I couldn't stop myself I hope I didn't scare you, you would tell me if I did wouldn't you, I have been trying to research what has been going on with the wolf these past few months but I can't find anything"

"Remus stop rambling its completely fine don't worry about it" Sirius reassured his friend.

"You sure? I don't want you to be afraid of me" Remus whispered.

"The Marauders always stick together Remus, I know your furry problem isn't something to be scared about I've just had a lot on my mind. I'm sorry if you thought I was avoiding you"

Remus looked relieved and it made Sirius' stomach clench he felt terrible for making Remus feel bad, he knew how self-conscious Remus was about his affliction.

"Here is to the best Christmas ever!" Sirius declared raising his cocoa, the boys clinked cups and continued talking, moving onto lighter topics.


End file.
